The Sherbrooke Bride - Catherine Coulter [42]
“She’s with me, Ryder.”
“Hello, Tony.” Ryder grinned at his cousin, who’d come around his wife from the breakfast room. Ryder stepped forward and gripped his hand. “I am rather pleased you are still alive or is it still in question? Is Douglas still at your throat or have you convinced him that he is all the better off for this good deed you performed for him?”
“Look, Ryder, I—”
“No, cousin, Hollis didn’t tell me any secrets, it’s just that I had to come and see for myself. It’s dashed good to see you in one healthy piece, Tony.”
“I’m Melissande.”
“Yes, I know. My pleasure.”
Ryder immediately turned back to his cousin. “Is that a swollen lip I see, Tony? Perhaps that’s a bruise on your cheek? So you did tangle with Douglas, did you? I trust you gave as good as you got.”
“I’m Tony’s wife.”
“Yes, I know. My pleasure.”
Ryder continued to his cousin, “Well, did you?”
“Did I what?”
“Punch Douglas in his pretty face.”
“I got in a few good blows, but not enough. His wife attacked me.”
“I’m Melissande. I attacked Douglas.”
Ryder knew the glorious creature was miffed, and he was amused by it. Obviously Tony was meant to be an Atlas among men; he would need to be in order to control this delightful package of vanity that was his wife. If he didn’t manage her well, he would probably wish rather to carry the world on his shoulders. It wasn’t Ryder’s problem, thankfully, so he said, “Come along, Tony, I want to hear all the details. Is Douglas here?”
“No, he and Alex are riding, I believe.”
“Alex?”
“Alexandra.”
“I’m Melissande. I’m Alexandra’s sister.”
“I know. My pleasure, ma’am. Come along, Tony.”
Melissande was left standing in the entrance hall, staring after her husband and the unobservant clod of an oblivious cousin-in-law. Hollis gently cleared his throat. “Should you like anything, my lady?”
“No,” Melissande said, her voice absent, for she was still suffering minor shock. “I must go upstairs and see what is wrong.”
Hollis smiled after her, knowing that her mirror would soon enjoy her image and her puzzlement.
Five minutes later he wasn’t smiling. His Lordship and his wife came into the hall, both looking as if they’d been dragged through a ditch. “My lord! Goodness! My lady, are you—”
“No, don’t fret, Hollis.” Douglas turned to Alexandra. “Go upstairs and do something about yourself.”
As a dismissal, it was clear and to the point. Even though he looked very probably as bad as she did, Alex kept quiet. She went upstairs.
Douglas said to Hollis, “We both fell from our horses, but no harm done.”
“Her Ladyship is limping a bit.”
“It serves her . . . well, perhaps a bit, but she’ll be just fine, don’t fret, Hollis.”
When told that his brother had come to grace the Northcliffe portals, Douglas cursed, cursed some more, stomped past Hollis, and stomped into the library. Three maids were peeking around the Golden Salon doors and two footmen were stationed unobtrusively beneath the stairs, staring out. Hollis, as was his wont, very gently sent them back to their duties.
“Ah,” Ryder said upon Douglas’s entrance. “Let me see your face. Tony claimed that you nearly beat him to a bloody pulp and you escaped without a mark. He said, of course, that he let you, that he only tried to defend himself.”
“It was his wife who nearly killed me,” Tony said. “She was first my sister-in-law, but now she shows me no loyalty. It isn’t right of her. I feel flayed with treachery.”
“Treachery! You damned cur! I’ll—”
Douglas stopped. There was nothing more to say. What he had to decide now was whether or not to annul the marriage. And now Ryder was here. He looked with some dislike upon his brother. “All right, why are you here, Ryder? Is Mother all right? Tysen and Sinjun?”
“Mother is carping about you at full steam. Sinjun is reading voraciously, as usual, and Tysen was prosing on and on until Sinjun threw a novel at him. In short, everyone is just the same, Douglas. They all think me at Newmarket. I was curious, that’s all. Where’s the chit Tony married you to? Does she have