Redemption (17 page)

“Then I
think you need to be aware that my brother is no longer sole owner
of this property. I am therefore taking over the running of this
house until my brother is able to,” she declared firmly. Her eyes
challenged him to argue with her. She walked forward and stopped in
the middle of the hallway. Seconds later, Malcolm appeared by her
side minus the broadsheet. She watched him tuck his shirt into his
breeches and shook her head in disgust.

“I
wouldn’t bother if I were you,” she informed him briskly as she
studied the dust motes in the corners of each of the stairs, and
the thick layer of dust that covered practically every
surface.

“I
wasn’t expecting you, ma’am,” the butler snapped
huffily.

“I don’t
doubt it,” Lizzie replied. “How many staff are left here
now?”

“Just
me,” the butler replied and shifted on his feet, clearly eager to
get back to the fire, and his broadsheet. There was an angry glint
in his eye that warned her he didn’t want her in the house and
wouldn’t be the best of staff, even if she was stupid enough to
keep him on. Still, she wasn’t about to let a slovenly butler put
her off, not now that she had come this far.

“So,
there is no maid or anyone else to do any cleaning?” she asked,
unsurprised when he shook his head.

“The
master laid them all off when money got tight.”

“So what
does he pay you?” Lizzie demanded. She watched the man shift
uncomfortably, and began to wonder if Julian was even aware he was
still in the house.

“He
allowed me to remain here for the time being until I can secure
another position somewhere else.”

Lizzie
snorted. “So you are trying to find work sitting around in your
shirt sleeves reading the broadsheet, are you? Meantime, you are
eating and living in my house gratis?”

“I will
get my things,” Malcolm muttered, and stalked across the hall and
disappeared toward the back of the house before she could say
anything else.

“Do
that,” Lizzie whispered and shook her head in disbelief as she
turned a full circle while she studied the main hall.

From the
blank spaces on the walls, and the now empty surfaces, she
suspected that her brother had sold everything worth selling. It
didn’t bode well for what she might unearth once she started to
search each room. Still, she would probably only get this one
opportunity to get the truth and so squared her shoulders while she
contemplated which room to start in.

“Well,
it is at least dry,” she muttered with a sniff. “If a little
cold.”

Rubbing
her arms in a feeble attempt to get some warmth back into them,
Lizzie began to wander aimlessly through each room.

“It is
so empty,” she whispered to herself eyeing the places on the rug
where furniture had once stood. She hadn’t realised just how bad
things had become for Julian, but the evidence was now right before
her eyes. It felt as though she was walking through the past, or
the ghostly remnants of it. The past lives of the long forgotten
residents hung in the air; her mother and step-father, and numerous
other distant relatives, most of who belonged to Julian, glared
somewhat balefully down from the walls as though they knew exactly
what he had done to the house and they didn’t approve. Although
most of the larger items of furniture remained untouched in the
majority of the rooms, there were few ornaments or personal
fripperies present that would have turned Pendlebury a home. Not
only that but the fires had long since burned down to ash and
hadn’t been swept clean. The cold and unwelcoming sight of them
only added to the unloved and unkempt feel of the place that was
decidedly abandoned.

The
sudden bang of a door at the back of the house made her
jump.

“Hello?”
she called, wondering if it was Malcolm.

When she
got no answer she hurried to the back of the house and, minutes
later, walked into the kitchen to find it empty. She sighed with
pleasure when she was immediately encased in warmth and hurried
over to the roaring fire to warm her chilled fingers while she
studied the room the butler had been using as his personal living
space.

Apart
from the large kitchen table in the centre of the room, and several
plates of pies and a half-eaten loaf of bread, there was nothing
else in the room except for the warm fire. If the butler had been
living there he had been residing in frugal conditions indeed, even
if they were free.

“Hello?”
she called again, and winced when her voice echoed back at
her.

She
sauntered back into the main body of the house, painfully aware
that it felt like she was the only person in the world. The silence
within the huge building was almost claustrophobic, especially as
she searched the back rooms and the heels of her boots echoed
hollowly on the tiles and emphasised the emptiness of the
place.

“One
thing is for certain,” she muttered as she walked back into the
cold interior of the main body of the house. “I will not be
stopping here again. It isn’t home now,” she whispered. It felt as
alien to her as her step-brother’s boots and about as warm and
welcoming as the prison had been.

After
the day she had just had she was cold, tired and hungry. Her head
was swimming with the tumultuous events she had been forced to deal
with and she had just reached the end of her tether. She just
wanted to get some sleep and think about everything in the morning.
Everything within her desperately wanted to go back to the hotel
and rest for a while, but she was painfully aware that she had no
idea how long it would take the solicitors to get Julian released
from the prison. She had to take advantage of the house being
empty. She had no idea what she was looking for, and was driven by
curiosity more than anything else, but she knew she wouldn’t rest
until her search of Julian’s papers was done.

Before
she could venture any further than the study, someone began to
hammer loudly on the front door. She stared at it for a moment and
contemplated whether to answer it. There was no knocker on the
door, so random callers shouldn’t feel at liberty to call by.
However, given the heavy way the caller was literally pounding on
the door, this was not likely to be a social call. She hesitated
and wondered whether she should bother to see who it was. If she
did then she would have to explain what she was doing here, and she
didn’t want to have to tell anyone that she was even in London, or
at Pendlebury House. When the pounding continued though, she was
forced to answer it, if only for some peace.

When she
yanked the door open though she wasn’t prepared for who she found
on the doorstep.

“Lizzie,” Ben murmured, walking into the house in a daze. His
hungry gaze scoured her from head to toe, noting the numerous
changes in her over the last several weeks. Not only was she more
slender, but there was a healthy glow to her rose-tinted cheeks
that when matched with the brilliant sparkle in her wonderful blue
eyes, left him somewhat mesmerised. He had never seen a more
beautiful, and welcome sight in his life.

“Ben,”
Lizzie whispered, too choked to say anything else.

The look
he gave her seared her to her soul and she almost cried out beneath
the strength of the yearning that swept through her. Rather than
move, her eyes remained locked with his as he stalked slowly toward
her.

“You are
here,” he whispered. He couldn’t believe his eyes. She was there.
Right before him. The woman he had spent the last several weeks
scouring London for.

“How are
you, Lizzie?” Ben struggled to control his emotions as he studied
her. Relief warred with disbelief and fought even harder with
delight.

When he
drew to a stop before her, he captured her hands in his and held
them tightly against his chest while he studied the thick fan of
her lashes and the delicious curve of her lips. She was alive. Her
fingers, although cold, were holding his as firmly as he was
holding hers. From the top of her glossy head to the tip of her
slightly dusty boots, his adoring gaze raked over her; searching
every dip and hollow for signs of change.

“Where
the hell have you been?” he demanded in a voice that was nothing
more than a husky growl. The atmosphere within the hallway suddenly
became static. Tension positively shimmered off Ben as he stared at
the woman he had so desperately needed to see more than anyone in
the entire world. “I have been scouring London for you.”

“Have
you?” she whispered, her heart in her eyes.

The hand
he lifted to stroke her cheek trembled slightly. He swallowed past
the lump in his throat and nodded. “I have.”

“I have
been staying with my aunt in Derbyshire,” she informed him absently
scouring him from head to foot in return. He looked tired but also
so wonderfully strong that he simply took her breath away. She was
positive that the dark circles beneath his eyes hadn’t been there
the last time she had seen him in daylight. He also looked
incredibly handsome and debonair; heartbreakingly so. She watched
him move steadily closer until she had to tip her head back so she
could keep her gaze locked with his. Before she could say anything,
her lips were covered by his. Her hands lifted instinctively to
push him away but once she touched the solid expanse of muscle
beneath the fine material of his shirt she knew that she couldn’t.
She wanted this. She needed this. He drew her closer and captured
her hands against his warmth and she didn’t object. His arms then
swept around her waist and drew her closer still until she was
flush against him. She could feel his every heartbeat, and it
thundered as heavily as hers. She was immediately lost to the wild
sensations that stole her senses.

The kiss
was harsh, hard even, and was more of a branding, a possession,
that was over as quickly as it had started, but it positively
burned into the very depths of her soul. Her lips tingled when he
finally lifted his head so he could stare down at her. Neither of
them spoke for several long moments. Eventually he seemed to snap
out of his thoughts and sucked in a huge breath but remained
perfectly still.

“Don’t
ever leave again without telling me where you are going,” he
growled. “God, I thought you were dead.”

She
nodded, at first too choked by the wealth of emotion in his voice.
When she did find her voice it trembled as much as his.

“I am
sorry. I didn’t realise until Julian told me.”

“He knew
where you were, didn’t he?” His words were laden with disgust and
confusion.

“At
first? No. It took time for him to locate me. By the time he did,
he was arrested before he could do anything about it. He wrote to
me from his prison cell.”

“Meanwhile, I have been scouring the whole of London for
you,” Ben murmured. “Why in the hell did you just leave like that?
Did you not think that anybody would notice that you suddenly upped
and vanished? Did you not think that someone would worry and try to
find you again? I have had half of the
ton
scouring London for you. Nobody
has seen you since the ball.”

“I am
sorry. After the ball, Julian and I had a somewhat fractious talk.
He ordered me out of the house.”

“I know.
He told me,” Ben sighed. “Why did you not think to come to
me?”

Lizzie
struggled to find the right words to explain, but how could she
tell him that she didn’t want to be second best to Melissa
Bradwort?

“It
seemed presumptuous of me.”

“We were
close at the ball, Lizzie. We shared a lot. Did you not think that
meant anything to me?”

Her eyes
met his. “To be honest, I couldn’t be sure. It didn’t feel right to
burden you with my problems. We are hardly well
acquainted.”

“Yet,”
Ben warned.

Lizzie’s
brows lifted and she looked askance at him.

“Now
that you are here, we are going to get better acquainted so there
can be no confusion,” Ben warned her and planted another lingering
kiss on her lips to seal his promise.

She felt
her cheeks flush but couldn’t deny him.

The
sudden chiming of the grandfather clock beside them broke them
apart before the kiss could go any further. Ben took a breath and
tried to focus his thoughts but it took him several moments to even
remember where they were.

“Have
you moved back in?” He asked, glancing around them at the barren
hallway.

“God,
no,” she replied with a sigh. “This place has never really felt
like home, and that was before Julian plundered it.”

“I hear
his mistress has been here,” Ben replied thoughtfully, staring at
the empty spaces and wondering how anyone could live in such stark
confines. Their echoing voices were testament to just how empty the
house now was, and he tugged Lizzie a little bit closer to keep her
warm in the dank atmosphere.

“It
wouldn’t surprise me,” she sighed in disgust. “What do you
know?”

Determined to have no lies between them, he looked at her a
little ruefully. “Rumour has it that his latest has been living
here quite openly,” he told her.