Chapter Eleven

 

“Did you find Dell last night?” Serena asked and began to pour the tea.

“Yes. It was a—foolish impulse to bolt like that but James was so…” Delilah let out a shaky breath. “I suddenly couldn’t breathe and the thought that instead of going to the library he might have gone upstairs to ring the bell in my bedroom. She’d have answered it believing it to be me and…”

“Is that how he tricked her when it happened?”

“Yes. Just that easily.”

Serena held out a teacup. “Here. To settle your nerves.” Delilah took it and Serena stirred her own. “I said nothing but your claim to be unwell will only provide more credence to what you’ve told James. That is, if it is reported to him that you left the table abruptly last night.”

“I’ve done as you asked, Lady Wellcott. I’ve…hinted to James that I suspect I may be pregnant at last.” Delilah fanned herself slowly. “He was not as joyously cheered as I’d hoped but he has been sleeping in his dressing room.”

Serena smiled. “And taking his sour mood out on Sir Warrick.”

“I think he is quite fond of you, Lady Wellcott. Truly and genuinely fond.”

“Hardly but I think Sir Warrick and I have reached a détente.” Serena sighed. “But back to James. If he has shifted his sleeping arrangements, then he is giving credence to your claim.”

“For a time,” Delilah said. “But what will I do when he discovers my deception?”

Serena nodded. “What deception? There is a baby coming, is there not, Mrs. Osborne?”

Delilah quietly worked through the implications of it all and Serena marveled at how beautiful her expression became when the revelation settled against her heart. “Oh, yes! Yes, there is!”

“I think it might be a fitting addition to our scheme if your husband’s child could be acknowledged as such and if you can summon the generosity it would require to give it your family’s name…” Serena knew that there was no debate to be had but it was important that Delilah see all the pieces fall into place.

“Dell! What a relief to my Dell! If together we could raise this child!” Delilah pressed her hands against her chest. “It would be more than fitting. It would be a blessing I cannot give credence!”

“Depending on how things play out in the next week, we will protect the child at all costs. Sit with this for a time, Mrs. Osborne. As you love Dell, I think you can love this baby and steal the future away from James. For you are now the architect of the years to come, not your husband, and if you have room for his baby, then I think it will be a very beautiful life ahead.”

“But James would never allow—“

“James will have no say in the matter. None. And if he is wise, he’ll simply be grateful to see his family name carried on and his line continue.” Serena shrugged her shoulders. “Or I’ll make sure he is.”

“What a tangle! However do you keep all the threads set in your mind, Lady Wellcott?” Delilah took a sip of her tea. “You are a marvel to me!”

“I do what I must. It isn’t much of a parlor trick at the end of the day.”

“Do you mind if I ask…”

“You may ask me anything, Mrs. Osborne.”

“What is the worst revenge you have ever meted out, Lady Wellcott?”

“Why do you ask that question?”

“I think I want to take courage but also to brace myself for whatever is to come.”

Serena smiled. “Wise. Very well, but please keep in mind that every plan unfolds differently and no one’s revenge is a match to another’s.”

“Understood.”

“There once was a Lord L, let us call him. His wife reached out to the Black Rose and it was a meeting I have never forgotten. For her husband’s cruelty was so horrifying and so all encompassing, it stole my breath.”

“Did he…beat her?” Delilah asked softly, her eyes already wide.

Serena nodded. “No but his cruelty had no bounds. His every word to her was barbed, his every action aimed at hurting her, frightening her, and tormenting her. Even so, she’d have dutifully endured if he hadn’t finally gone too far for her soul to absorb.” Serena sighed. “She had a little dog, a black-faced pug who was her dear companion and her one solace in this world.”

“Oh, god! Please…say no more.”

“He drowned it in front of her,” Serena finished mercilessly.

Delilah’s eyes filled with tears. “No!”

“Needless to say, upon hearing her tale, I was more than happy to take the commission.”

“What did you do?” Delilah whispered.

Serena smiled at the delicious memory. “Poor Lord L! Weeks of planning but there was a grand masque ball that provided just the opportunity I needed. A small touch of seduction on my part to lead him upstairs and a few drops of a potent drug in his glass…”

“Yes?” Delilah asked, on the edge of her seat.

“He awoke to a nursemaid’s screams quickly followed by the lady of the house and several guests.”

“Did they find you abed together?”

Serena shook her head and laughed. “Oh, no! For a man such as that, a small indiscretion like infidelity would hardly matter! I conjured a sin he could never laugh away. Lord L was found in a most compromising position with his pants around his aristocratic ankles in the nursery of his host’s six year old son.”

“No!” Delilah’s astonishment and horror was total. “How could you? That poor innocent child!”

“I may be a heartless villain but I have my principles!” Serena’s mirth faded fast. “I would never harm a child! The boy was fast asleep and oblivious to all after a few drops of laudanum were put into his bedtime’s sweet milk. Lord L never touched that child!” She smoothed out her skirts. “I had the help of a few paid insiders to arrange all and ensure that the boy would be unscathed. They even tucked the small bottle of laudanum in Lord L’s waistcoat pocket for good measure. It was a thoughtful detail to add to the scene and so impossible for Lord L to explain.”

“What if the child had awoken?”

Serena shook her head. “Trust me. He awoke the next morning like a cherub in his own nursery and reportedly had a dream about dancing bears. You are concentrating on the wrong elements, Mrs. Osborne.” Serena reached over to take her hand. “Here, let’s try this again, Delilah! Picture it. Lord L ensnared in what could only be viewed as an act of attempted rape and buggery with a helpless child under his host’s roof and over the heads of every influential member of the nobility you can fit into a grand house at the height of the social season! It was a masterpiece!”

“Oh, my!” Delilah’s cheeks colored and her eyes sparkled. “It’s terrible but...so wonderful at the same time, isn’t it?”

Serena nodded. “There, now you have the way of it! I was in the ballroom in the midst of a waltz when the excitement unfolded so I can tell you with utter certainty that word of the crime had spread like wildfire before the music of my dance had ended.”

“So quickly!” Delilah exclaimed.

“It was ruin, total and complete.”

“And Lady L?”

“She would have petitioned for a divorce and achieved her freedom without a blink of protest.” Serena folded her hands together. “She would have, but that was the one wrinkle in the plan I had not foreseen.”

“She did not? How could she not divorce him after all of that?”

“There was no need.” Serena reached up to tuck a black curl back into place atop her head. “He hung himself the next day.”

“Oh,” Delilah was at a loss for words.

Serena shrugged her shoulders. “A tidier end than he deserved, Mrs. Osborne, though he did give his wife one final ironic comforting gift on his way to Hades.”

“And what gift was that?”

“He used her dog’s leash to end himself.” Serena sighed. “I like to think that some part of him knew the true source of his downfall.”

“What a tale!” Delilah pressed her fingers to her temples. “Was Lady L…happy? After it was over?”

“Deliriously.” Serena nodded and poured herself another cup of tea. “I sent her a basket of pug puppies wearing bright yellow ribbons after the funeral. We correspond regularly and her letters are a source of delight to me. She is a strong and vibrant member of our little society, Mrs. Osborne.”

Delilah’s expression dimmed.

“What troubles you?” Serena asked.

“I must be a wretched person, Lady Wellcott. For just then—I felt nothing but envy. Envy for a widow because she is free, so completely free, isn’t she?”

Serena reached across to take Delilah’s hand. “Every path is different. My plans do not set out to make you a widow, Mrs. Osborne. But I don’t think you will be disappointed in the justice we achieve. I promise.”

Delilah nodded. “I trust you completely.”

“How is your Dell?”

“Fearful but not for herself. She is convinced that my husband will take his revenge on me if he learns of my…efforts to move against him.”

“Then I should ask how you are faring, Mrs. Osborne.”

“Well enough. I feared my resolve would flag but it is the opposite. When I see that look in his eyes, knowing what I do now… I am ashamed that I was so blind to it before and to the pain he inflicted on so many.” Delilah’s eyes filled with tears. “If you cannot stop him, Lady Wellcott, I do not think I can face it.”

“There, there.” Serena touched her friend’s shoulder. “The Black Rose has you in hand and he will be stopped. It won’t be long and then we shall never speak of shame again. Never.”

Delilah nodded slowly, her composure recovering slowly. “Thank you, Lady Wellcott.”

“After.” Serena sat back and took a genteel sip from her teacup. “Thank me after.”