Stranger in My Arms(74)

She scooped up a handful of her skirts, lifting the hem away from her feet, and descended the stairs quickly. As she reached the last step, she had a clear view of Hunter talking to Lonsdale.

The sight of her brother-in-law, well dressed and boyishly handsome, filled Lara with rage. Lonsdale appeared relaxed and charming, as if nothing were wrong. She would be damned if he would ever put his hands on Rachel again-she would shoot him herself, if it came to that.

Although Lara made no sound, Hunter sensed her presence. He turned and skewered her with a glare.

“Stay there,” he said roughly. She obeyed, her heart hammering violently, while Hunter returned his attention to Lonsdale.

“Hawksworth,” Lonsdale murmured, seeming bewildered by his cold reception. “Good God, man, how long are you going to keep me standing here?

Invite me in, and we’ll talk over a friendly drink.”

“This isn’t the occasion for a friendly drink,” Hunter said curtly.

“Yes, well… the reason I’m here is obvious.”

Lonsdale paused and asked in patent concern, “How is my wife?”

“Not well.”

“I don’t pretend to understand what’s going on.

Rachel had an accident, and instead of allowing her to recover at her own home, you drag her across the countryside… all to satisfy some whim of Lara’s, no doubt. I understand Lara’s reaction-she’s like all women, with the sense of a peahen-but you…”

Lonsdale shook his head in amazement. “What possessed you to do it, Hawksworth? It’s not like you to bother about another man’s business, especially when that man is the best damned friend you’ve ever had.”

“No longer,” Hunter said softly.

Lonsdale’s blue eyes crinkled in bewilderment.

“What are you saying? You’re like a brother to me.

No dispute over a mere woman can come between us. Just let me have Rachel, and we’ll be on the upsides again.”

“She can’t be moved.”

Lonsdale laughed incredulously at the refusal.

“She will be moved if I say so. She’s my wife.” He sobered as Hunter continued to stare at him implacably. “Why are you looking at me like that? What the devil is going on?”

Hunter didn’t blink. “Leave, Terrell.”

An anxious frown crept over Lonsdale’s face. “Tell me how Rachel is!”

“She was pregnant,” Hunter said flatly. “She lost the baby.”

Lonsdale’s color seemed to drain away, and his mouth moved in a convulsive twist. “I’m going to see her.”

Hunter shook his head, refusing to step aside.

“She’s being taken care of.”

“She lost the baby because you brought her here while she was ill!”

Lonsdale cried.

Lara bit her lip in an attempt to remain quiet, but somehow her voice came bursting forth. “Rachel had a miscarriage because you pushed her down the stairs! She told me and Dr. Slade all about it.”

“It’s a lie!”

“Lara, shut up,” Hunter growled.

“And you wouldn’t even send for a doctor,” Lara continued recklessly, ignoring him.

“She didn’t need one, damn you!” Lonsdale’s temper exploded, and he started for her with a dark flush climbing his face. “You’re trying to poison everyone agarnst me. I’ll close your mouth for you, you bitch-” Lara retreated automatically, forgetting the stairs were just behind her. She fell backward with a gasp, sitting down hard on the second step. From there she could only watch in wide-eyed horror as Hunter seized Lonsdale like a hound with a hapless fox.

“Get out,” Hunter said, swinging his former friend toward the door.

Lonsdale wrenched free and came toward him with both fists flying.

Lara expected Hunter to react in a similar manner, adopting the traditional pugilist’s stance.

Both men shared a keen interest in the sport, having attended countless prizefights together in the past, and practiced at fisticuffs with their aristocratic friends.

But what happened before Lara’s bewildered gaze was not what she or anyone else could have expected. Hunter moved in a strange, fluid blur, using his knee and the heel of his hand in a way that somehow sent Lonsdale to the floor in a groaning heap. It seemed to be accomplished without thought. Hunter ended up crouched over Lonsdale, his arm drawn back in preparation for one last blow. A fatal blow, Lara realized suddenly, trying to gather her wits. She saw from Hunter’s taut, strangely blank face that he was more than ready to kill the man beneath him.

His reason was gone, replaced by pure lethal instinct “Hunter,” she said desperately. “Hunter, wait.”

The use of his name seemed to break through the fog that surrounded him. He glanced at her alertly, his arm lowering an inch or two. Lara nearly recoiled from what she saw in his eyes, a bloodthirst that went far beyond this situation. He was fighting to keep from sliding into some dark abyss that he had no wish to return to. There were many things she didn’t understand, but she knew without doubt that she must help him by restoring normalcy as quickly as possible.

“That’s enough,” Lara said, while servants seemed to come from all directions, their bewildered gazes pinned on the two men in the center of the hall. “I believe Lord Lonsdale wishes to leave now.” She stood and brushed at her skirts, and spoke to a footman who waited nearby.