Page 115 of A Momentary Marriage

James knelt beside her, pulling his handkerchief from his pocket, and began to clean the wound. “I think the bullet just creased him.” He gave a shaky laugh.

Laura threw her arms around James again, smiling and crying all at once. “I’ve never been so scared in my life.”

“Shh, now. It’s all right.” He closed his arms around her. “It’s over now.”

Behind them, Adelaide snapped, “Let go of me. Let go this instant.”

Laura and James turned to see Adelaide twist out of Claude’s embrace. She faced her husband, her eyes stormy, but face cold and calm. “How dare you? He hurt me. I’m your wife. You should defend me.”

“Adelaide . . . I saw you.” Claude gaped at her. “What in the name of heaven are you doing?”

She tilted her head proudly, tugging her sleeves into place and smoothing down her hair. Her voice was crisp. “I am protecting my son’s future. It wouldn’t have been necessary if you had stepped up and acted like a man. Since you refused, I had to do it myself.”

“You had to do what? Kill my brother? Are you mad?”

“No, I’m not mad. Just not a coward like you. I dare anything!” With that, she turned and sprinted for the steps down to the road.

Her action took them by surprise, and for a moment everyone just stared.

“Adelaide!” Claude shouted and began to follow. “Adelaide, stop!”

She reached the top of the long tiers of stairs and started down them at a run. Her feet slipped on the stone and she wavered, arms windmilling, then tumbled out of sight.

“No!” Claude roared and broke into a run.

James and Laura followed, stopping abruptly at the top of the stairs. Adelaide sprawled across a landing halfway down, unmoving, her head bent at an unnatural angle. Her bright hair had come loose and spilled over the stairs into the shallow water at the edge. Claude knelt beside her body, his hands over his face, his body racked with sobs.

James and Laura went down to him. James sent Laura a helpless glance, then reached out one hand and laid it on his brother’s shoulder. With his other hand, he reached back to take Laura’s. As they stood there, Demosthenes came up to stand with them, leaning his head against Laura’s leg.

James thought of Laura lying in this place, lifeless, and a shiver ran through him. He pressed a kiss against her head. “It’s over now, love. It’s done. You’re safe.”

And he would make sure she always would be.

chapter 45

Laura slipped quietly into James’s study. He stood at the window, staring out. Adelaide’s funeral had been two days ago, and the house was draped in full mourning, gloom hanging in the air. The suddenness, the violence, the madness of it all, had left everyone stunned.

He turned and smiled, and she went to him, sliding her arms around him and leaning against his chest. “How are you? Have you spoken to Claude this morning?”

“I’m well enough. I saw Claude earlier. He’s devastated. Hard as it is for me to fathom, he really loved the woman. He said to me, ‘I never really knew her at all.’ His whole foundation is shaken.”

“He must be in dreadful pain.”

“Now that she’s gone, Netherly broke down and confessed. Adelaide persuaded him to help her do away with me—or, as he puts it, he was ‘so in love I would have moved mountains for her.’ They charged him with only an attempt on my life. I agreed, the stipulation being that he keeps his mouth shut about Adelaide. I won’t let her actions taint Claude and Robbie.”

“Yes, of course. It’s bad enough that they’ve lost the woman they loved, without having the scandal hanging over them all their lives.” She looked down at Demosthenes, who, tail wagging, was trying to edge his massive head between them. Laura smiled. “At least she didn’t kill Dem.”

“No. Fortunately he has a hard head.” He grinned. “And don’t say like his master.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.” Laura laughed and pulled away from him. “I thought we might get away this afternoon.”

“I would be happy to. What did you have in mind?”

“I thought we might visit Lydcombe. Do you want to see why I visit there so often?”

James eyed her a trifle warily. “I’m not sure. Do I?”

“I think you should.” She knew he could not resist the challenge in her eyes. “Since my visits there have caused you concern.”