All she had was her needle. It would have to do.
One side of her mouth quirked up into a half-smile as she thought,A lady doesn’t need a sword as long as she has a sewing needle handy.
Louisa pulled the needle out of her hem and carefully held the eye of it, while placing the sharp point into the lock. She stabbed and pressed with it. Nothing happened. Her eyes filled with tears and she longed to cry out her heart at the injustice of it all. She had finally reached London, had been presented to the Queen and attendedtonparties. She had friends and fine gowns and handsome suitors...
Wick was unlike the men in her family in every way. He listened to and respected the women in his life. He bore his sisters’ teasing and gave them their own back again. And he was thoughtful. She would never forget the soft expression on his face when he’d pulled out of his pockets the kittens for his little sisters. It was clear that he loved them just as they were. He didn’t expect them to change into someone else to be worthy of being loved. Wick wanted the very best for them.
Oh, how Louisa longed to be loved by Wick too.
Blast Barnabas!
Louisa might be ruined, but she would not give him the satisfaction of marrying her for her money. If anyone would be buying jewels with her inheritance, it would be her. She was not the same docile creature who had left her aunt and uncle’s home. Louisa felt strong and free. She would never cower before her relatives again, begging for a scrap of affection.
She pressed the needle into the lock once more. She felt it catch something. Pushing harder with the needle, she felt the eye stabbing at her finger, but she could not stop. Would not stop. At last, she heard a click. Louisa dropped the needle. There was no way to find it in the dark, so she didn’t bother to try. She placed both hands on the cellar door and slowly lifted it up. The door was heavy, but she was determined. Louisa stepped on the highest stair and used her whole body’s weight to push the door open. The hinges creaked loudly, and before Louisa could stop it the door fell backwards with a loud crash.
Blinking, she let her eyes adjust to the dim light. She wasn’t blind. It was growing dark outside. She needed a weapon. Something to defend herself with. Louisa grabbed the kettle off the stove.
She ran across the kitchen towards the front door, but her cousin Barnabas was standing in front of it, wearing only his breeches. His bare stomach was hanging over his waistband. It was more of him than she’d ever wished to see.
He held a candle up to her face. ‘How’d you get out?’
‘It doesn’t matter,’ Louisa spat, holding the kettle like a cricket bat. ‘I’d rather die than marry you, and I don’t give a fig about my reputation.’
Barnabas sneered at her. ‘No one will marry you after this. You’re damaged goods now. Your only choice is to marry me. And don’t worry—I’ll leave you well enough alone. You can take care of Greystone Hall, as you have your whole life.’
‘But will you leave me alone, cousin?’ Louisa said loudly, so that his mistress would hear. ‘Won’t you need a son and heir for the earldom?’
‘Shouldn’t take too long. My aunt had you nine months after her marriage to my uncle.’
‘A girl—not a son and heir. If you have any hope of continuing your line, you’ll have to give up Belinda—and your other mistress who lives in Tunbridge Wells.’
The ‘other mistress’ was a fabrication, for Louisa had seen that Belinda now stood in the bedroom door. Happily, the woman was wearing more clothes than her cousin.
‘You’ve got another girl in Tunbridge Wells?’ Belinda said, throwing one of her boots at Barnabas’s head. ‘You gib-faced villain.’
The boot hit her cousin in the ear. Barnabas dropped the candle and covered his head with his arms. ‘I never have, Belinda, love. She’s lying to you.’
The mistress eyed Louisa with suspicion. Louisa held up the kettle. ‘He’s already planning to marry me—surely you don’t think he’ll stay faithful to you for long? Nor give you a diamond necklace? He’ll pay off Mr Sullivan and leave you high and dry. I hope the deed to this cottage is in your name. Or he’ll throw you out of it for his next mistress.’
Belinda hurled the second boot at Barnabas and it, too, caught him on his ear. The candle he’d dropped had now started a fire on the rug at his feet.
Louisa held up the kettle and advanced on her cousin. ‘Let me out or I will strike you.’
Barnabas put a hand on each side of the door. ‘I’ll be dead before I let you out of my sight.’
‘I will not marry you.Ever!’
‘You have to. Mother says so,’ he said. ‘I owe over one hundred thousand pounds. Besides, you don’t want the moneylender to kill me, do you? Your own cousin.’
Gaming. Her idiot cousin must have lost a fortune on cards and he’d been too stupid to stop after his staggering losses.
Louisa’s swallowed. ‘Your debts are not my responsibility.’
Her mind felt foggy...it was probably all the smoke in the room. The fire was growing. She had to do something.
Taking the kettle in her hands, she poured the contents onto the burning rug. It doused most of the flames, but didn’t quite put them out. Then Louisa felt a strong arm push her away and saw Belinda throwing a blanket over the rug to smother the remaining flames. Belinda stamped on the blanket until Louisa was fairly certain that the fire was out.
‘Some help you were, rum ’un!’ Belinda yelled at Barnabas. ‘Ye nearly burned down my cottage and did nothing to put the fire out.’