The Stranger She Married (37 page)

"Is Lord Amesbury home, yet?"

"Yes, he arrived while you were with Hannah. I'm sure he'll come to you soon,” Stephens assured her smoothly.

A knock sounded and Mrs. Dobbs came in, her eyes lined and shadowed. “How is he?"

Touched by the woman's apparent concern, Alicia shook her head. “No change."

"Captain Hawthorne is awake."

Alicia nodded and went to the room where Hawthorne lay. Stephens followed her in. Hawthorne's ashen face turned upon her, his dark eyes, so much like her father's, flicked to her. She shook her head at her own blindness. How had she missed the resemblance?

His eyes narrowed, glittering with hate, his malevolence palpable. She forced herself to not shrink away from him and instead looked back unflinchingly.

Stephens retrieved a gun from his belt and toyed with it. Grant entered, his grim presence filling the room. He withdrew his pistol and cocked it. What harm they thought a dying man could offer, Alicia couldn't guess. Stephens glowered at Hawthorne, no doubt wishing he could thrash the man for assaulting his master and friend. A third person entered. Alicia drew a breath of relief as Nicholas's familiar form approached, leaning more heavily than normal on his cane. He came to her at once, and briefly rested his hand on her shoulder. Robert came in and stood next to Nicholas.

Alicia fixed her gaze upon the man in the bed. The memory of Captain Hawthorne's hands at her throat made her shiver.

Grant stood over Hawthorne, his face grim and drawn. “Why?"

Hawthorne's mouth twisted into a cruel smile. “Would it be too blasé to say Revenge?"

Alicia sank into a chair near the bed. “What wrong have I done you? What has anyone in my family done to you?"

"Your father used my mother, sired me, and then cast us off like trash. All for a ‘proper lady'. The man who later married her—John Hawthorne—never let her forget that he took her despite her fallen state and claimed her son as his. All my life, I thought my father hated me. That I disappointed him. All those beatings...” His voice faded, his face twisted in pain and hatred. “It was only upon my mother's deathbed a year and a half ago that I learned the truth; my real father had rejected us."

Alicia's heart felt leaden. “I didn't know until yesterday after the fire. I found my mother's journal. She never knew the name of my father's mistress or her son."

"Her name was Ruth Scarlett. She both loved and cursed your father until the day she died.” Hawthorne coughed and blood seeped out of his mouth.

Alicia leaped up to help but he waved her away and wiped his lips with the back of his hand. Alicia sank back against the chair weakly, heaviness weighing upon her soul. “If we had only known..."

"What would you have done? Tried to form a relationship with your bastard half-brother? Protected us from the man who called himself my father? I think not.” Another wave of coughing left him spent. His lips developed a bluish tint.

Robert leaned forward. “So her death prompted you to kill us all?"

He dipped his chin once, his breathing became labored.

Grant wasn't finished. “You paid someone to kill Mrs. Palmer, but she was only mildly injured. Then you hired Vivian Charleston to arrange for Armand to duel."

"Vivian was so easily persuaded."

"Did you poison Armand's opium?"

Hawthorne's eyes took on an unholy glint. “Of course.
After
I arranged for the dressings to be tainted so his arm would sicken and have to be amputated. I enjoyed watching him suffer through that."

Alicia wrapped her arms around herself. Captain Hawthorne, the handsome man with the serious dark eyes, her unknown half-brother, had destroyed Armand. All the time that she blamed Cole, hated Cole, he was an innocent pawn in this madman's deadly game.

"And the carriage?” Grant pressed.

"I had it sabotaged to fall apart and the coachman drugged so he would not be able to save them. And I personally walked among the wreckage and killed the survivors.” Hawthorne's eyes turned to Alicia, filled with cold hatred. “I had thought you dead already. I should have made sure and broken your neck. Like I did your mother's when I found her still living."

Alicia pressed a hand over her mouth and squeezed her eyes closed. Hearing the depth of this man's hatred and his capacity for violence left her ill. How could he have coldly wrapped his hands around
Maman's
neck and taken her life? She remembered too clearly the feel of his hands around her throat, choking her until she had no breath.

Nicholas squeezed her shoulder. She drew a shuddering breath and ordered herself to not fall apart.

Warming to the idea of horrifying them with his actions, Hawthorne continued. “Your father—my father—was supposed to have been the last to die. I wanted him to lose everything and everyone that he loved. I wanted him to suffer. He wasn't supposed to have been in that carriage. Hannah was.” Another coughing fit brought up more blood and halted his confession.

Alicia nodded numbly. “Father had planned on taking care of some urgent business first and then joining us late that night at the inn where we planned to spend the night. At the last minute, he decided to go with us instead. Hannah had been too ill and remained behind."

"Did you tamper with Willard Palmer's investments when he inherited?” Grant demanded.

"I made sure all of them failed. It was so satisfying to watch you all suffer through debt and poverty. Then you married and saved them.” He turned a poisonous glare upon Alicia.

"Then your adopted father died and you learned he'd changed his will and left you cut off. Didn't want any of his money to go to his wife's by-blow,” Grant taunted.

Hawthorne's face twisted in anger and pain.

"So you decided to finish us all off in revenge,” Robert said in disbelief. “Including my father."

"My dear,” he sneered, “sweet half-sisters...” his voice trailed off. His breathing turned into wheezing.

"You put the snake in the garden where I always walked. And you had highwaymen attack me,” Alicia accused.

"And I set your bed curtains on fire.” Blood came out of both sides of his mouth. “I am only sorry I did not avenge her fully.... “But Hawthorne lacked the strength to continue. He drew a rattling breath and then was still.

Alicia left the room and began to wander the halls, cold down to her soul. A moment later, she realized Grant and Nicholas strode on either side of her. She reached for Nicholas, finding strength in the touch of his large, gloved hand. She turned to Grant.

"You knew."

"I did. But I lacked concrete proof. That's why I came here. We needed to catch him."

"And now your brother—"

"Lies dying because I thought to trap the killer.” His narrowed eyes, clenched jaw, and the flat tones in his voice betrayed his protected emotion.

"It was the only way to catch him, Grant, don't blame yourself.” Nicholas's voice sounded oddly hollow, as if he shared the blame he sought to dissuade Grant of bearing.

When Robert joined them, he looked broken.

"Mr. Palmer, a word?” Grant had a way of making a polite request sound like a command.

Robert turned toward him bleakly. “Of course."

"Many of your staff are new, correct?” Grant began.

"Yes.

"Anyone from the Hawthorne household?"

"Yes. The stable master and...” Robert paled, “Mrs. Dobbs, the head housekeeper."

"Find her,” Grant barked.

They scattered. With her heart in her throat, Alicia ran immediately to Hannah's room. Hannah blearily opened her eyes and Monique looked up from her sewing. The room appeared peaceful.

"Have you seen Mrs. Dobbs?” Alicia panted.

Monique blinked. “She looked in a moment ago."

A woman's scream sent a bolt of fear through her. She followed the sound to Cole's room.

She ran in through the open doorway to see Grant grappling with Mrs. Dobbs. Cole lay unmoving on the bed, a pillow over his face. With a cry, Alicia leaped forward and threw the pillow away. Cole still breathed, shallow and uneven, but he was alive.

Nicholas picked up the pillow from where it landed on the floor at his feet, and turned toward Grant and Mrs. Dobbs. Grant subdued her and wrenched her hands behind her back. He clapped on her wrists a pair of small shackles. Once he had her restrained, Grant pushed her into a chair. He stood over her like an avenging angel, looking positively murderous.

"Why?” he snarled.

"My mistress should have had him. She loved him. And he loved her. But he married a simpering fool. And he cast off my dear mistress."

Alicia stared at her in horror.

"Did you push Robert down the stairs?” Grant demanded.

"After I realized he wouldn't drink himself to death."

"And you've been poisoning Hannah,” Alicia said.

Mrs. Dobbs broke into sobs. “My poor, poor mistress. How I loved her."

Aghast, Alicia stared at her while the valets-turned-guards hauled her out. Cole began to thrash and moan as fever ravaged his body. Alicia went to his side, laid her head on the bed next to his shoulder and wept.

She wept for a woman who was discarded for another because of her caste. She wept for a battered child, a half-brother, who grew up in fear. She wept for the loss of her twin brother. For her parents. For Cole's grief and suffering.

And she wept for the futile realization that she loved Cole.

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Alicia began a sleepless vigil. Fearing to leave Cole's side, she remained with him throughout the day and all that night. When she wasn't bathing his shivering, feverish body, she tried to coax water, or Stephens’ tea down Cole's throat. All the while, she talked to him softly, caressing his face, stroking his hair. He roused occasionally, but never stayed awake long.

Only when Nicholas gently but firmly ordered her to rest did she retire to an empty bedroom. Without undressing, she collapsed on the bed. After a few hours of dreamless sleep, she awoke. Outside, darkness still enshrouded the land. She immediately went to check on her sister.

Alicia touched her hand. “Hannah?"

Hannah opened her eyes and turned her hand over to squeeze Alicia's. “I'm all right, Lissie.” She smiled and drifted into a healthy sleep, her breathing slow and even.

Alicia left Hannah's room for Cole's. She stopped short inside the room. Grant stood at the foot of the bed, his face grave. Next to him sat a man who might have been Cole's twin, but where Cole had always been immaculate, this man looked like he'd been through a battle. He wore black breeches and boots, and a green waistcoat, but no frockcoat. The top button of his shirt had been undone and his cravat hung in disarray. His dark hair, longer than Cole's, was tousled. A cloak had been hastily discarded on the chair.

"Have you notified the rest of the family?” the stranger asked Grant in a hushed voice.

Grant nodded. Then his eyes flicked to Alicia.

She came in all the way, eyeing the stranger who had turned at her arrival. The disheveled look-alike watched her with vibrant aquamarine eyes laced with concern.

She moistened dry lips. “Christian? Or Jared?"

He glanced at Grant and stood. “I'm Jared. I came as soon as I received Grant's message."

Jared. The pirate. His face, so like Cole's, was lined with worry, and the shadowed eyes revealed his sleepless nights. For a criminal, he seemed surprisingly humane. She'd expected a pirate to look harsher.

"You must be Alicia,” Jared said with a gentle smile.

She nodded, astonished at the show of humanity in a pirate.

"I apologize if my arrival disturbed you,” he added.

"Not at all,” she stammered, unnerved by the resemblance.

Jared had Cole's athletic build and the same expertly chiseled features. Yet he appeared more rugged, as if his life aboard the sea had hardened him beyond his years.

Alicia nodded toward Cole. “How is he?"

Jared glanced at Stephens who stood in the shadows, his concern resurfacing.

Stephens shook his head. “The fever is worse. We must submerge him in a tepid bath and gradually add cold water. It'll bring the fever down better than wet cloths."

It sounded dreadful, but she had grown to trust Stephens. “I'll have the slipper tub brought in."

"I'll see to it.” Jared scooped up his cloak and left. She heard him shouting orders.

"I must take my leave,” Grant said. “The constable took Dobbs to the local Magistrate. I'll deal with Vivian Charleston in London.” Grant paused. “Take care of my brother.” It sounded more like an order than a request.

Alicia nodded, knowing his gruffness concealed a human heart. “Of course I will."

His forehead creased into a frown as he briefly regarded her. Muttering, he shook his head and left.

A moment later, Stephens also slipped out. Alone with Cole, she ran her fingers down his broad, strong back, now bandaged where the bullet had torn through him.

"I love you, Alicia,” he murmured.

Heaven help her, she loved him too.

She leaned down and put her arms around him, inhaling his scent, feeling the roughness of his whiskers. She caressed his cheek and stroked his hair. Stretching out beside him on the bed, she closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around him, her body snuggled against him the way she had curled up by Nicholas those two magical nights.

Repulsed by her own traitorous heart, she leaped up. How could she love two men so deeply?

The bath arrived and she numbly rendered whatever aid she could. It took Jared, Stephens, and Jeffries to lift Cole from the bed and place him in the bath. When they added the water, he thrashed. With the men holding him down, they gradually added more chilled water. It took the strength of all the men to hold Cole down as he ranted and struggled.

Alicia wept and prayed.

From his anguished cries, Alicia knew he relived the war, the horror of the battles, the young men and boys who died all around him. He called out for Alicia, warning her, begging her forgiveness, confessing his love for her. He agonized over his role in Armand's death. He cried for a brother who had died as a child. And for his mother. He suffered through lost battles. Lost lives. Lost loved ones.