Treacherous Temptations(57)

“Jenny!”

“It’s true miss! Don’t make no mistake about that!”

“Well, what is this heinous iniquity that you are so eager, yet so reticent, to share?”

“’Tis about the earl’s death.”

“You speak of the Earl of Blanchard? Lord Hadley’s father?”

“Aye, miss. One and the same.”

“What of the earl? Tell me Jenny,” Mary demanded.

Jenny bit her lip and crossed herself. “Do you know he committed self-murder?”

“Yes,” Mary replied. “I am aware of the circumstances surrounding his demise.”

“But are you really, miss? His lordship’s death wasn’t quite the way it was put about. Aye, he was ruined sure enough, but ‘twas his wife’s betrayal what really done him in. And word is that she had planned to do off wi’ the earl for his money even before he took his own life.”

“Jenny! You must not believe everything you hear!”

“But there’s much more than that, miss! She’s a Jezebel! She took lovers under his lordship’s very nose. The night that he died, they say he went to her ladyship’s rooms with a pistol in his hand. But when he saw who it was in her ladyship’s bed he turned the pistol on hisself.”

“What has this to do with me, Jenny?”

The maid downcast her eyes and wrung her apron.

“Jenny?” Mary prompted in a hoarse whisper even as a sickening churning commenced in her stomach. “Wh-who, Jenny? Who was it in the countess’ bed?”

Jenny took a great breath and blurted, “’Twas the earl’s own son! ‘Twas Lord Hadley in his stepmother’s bed! And I fear they plot sommat, miss!” Jenny shook her head and then turned to make the bed. “I’m sorry to have encouraged ye in that direction. A bad lot they both be! But who but the good Lord can know what lies inside?”

Mary clutched at a chair as a kaleidoscope of images careened in her head—the knowing looks exchanged between Barbara and Hadley when he first arrived, Barbara’s constant criticism of her every action, initially well-concealed but lately revealed with sickly venom, Hadley’s evasiveness about his past. You are the only thing in my life that is untainted…I have done some unspeakable things…I wonder if you came just to save me…

Jenny shook out the bed sheet and paused. She glanced at Mary and then again at the bloodstained linen with a furrowed brow. “Are ye alright Miss? Have ye begun your flux?”

“No, Jenny,” Mary croaked. “I am neither alright, nor have I begun my flux. What you see is proof that the same lying, scheming, deceitful scoundrel you speak of is now my lawful husband.”

Jenny’s eyes grew round and her visage paled. “But how can that be, miss?”

“He found me, Jenny, and persuaded me to marry him. We went to one of those chapels and said our vows…” Mary looked away, her voice dropping to a whisper, “And then last night he came to me…W-we consummated the union. We were supposed to leave together very soon and go abroad.”

The weight of her error was just too much to bear. Mary slumped under her load and collapsed into faithful Jenny’s arms with a sob. “I know almost nothing of him, Jenny! And now I have pledged my life to him! I was such a besotted fool, bewitched by his charm, manners, and his handsome face. And then when he kissed me…when he touched me…”

“Oh, miss! My heart breaks for ye! Truly it does.” Jenny stroked Mary’s cropped curls. “Lord knows some men have such a magic touch and ye not be the first woman, nor the last to be bamboozled. But what now, miss? What can ye do?”

“I don’t know, Jenny! What is done cannot be undone!” Mary sobbed anew. What a dupe she had been for trusting, for believing that he cared. She had briefly held to the divine delusion that he loved her, but now reality reared its beastly head.

Jenny waited for the torrent to pass and then offered her mistress a handkerchief. Mary dried her streaming eyes and blew her nose hard.

“So ye have defied Sir Richard and wed Lord Hadley.”

“Yes Jenny,” she sniffed. “I have defied him and once he finds out, I will have no money. Without a doubt, he will cut me off. Hadley told me that once consummated, our marriage would stand in a court of law, but surely, Sir Richard will try to contest it to tie up my inheritance.”

“Can ye keep the marriage a secret from yer guardian?”

“How? He even now negotiates another union. I might be able to delay but what good would that do? Eventually the truth must come out.”

“Then we must get ye out of this house and away from them all,” Jenny said. “For none of them are up to any good.” The maid chewed her thumbnail. “If ye say the marriage will stand, why not just go home to Leicestershire as a married woman? There are many who live on their own with husbands at sea and the like.”

“Jenny! I never would have thought of that.” Mary brightened, but only for a moment. “But how can I escape this place when they have me under lock and key?”

Jenny gave her a thoughtful frown. “Ye say Lord Hadley was to take you away?”

“Yes. He said he would return for me very soon.”

“Then I say ye go with him, at least to escape from this house.”