Kate exchanged looks with Nadine. “Yes, I think I am.”
ACT FIVE
SCENE ONE
THE STABLES AT OXLEY MANOR
Nadine was so nervous she could hardly walk. She couldn’t believe no one had guessed her condition. She’d spent the evening being sick and hadn’t drunk so much as a sip of the champagne Willa had shown up with. But everyone had their own problems. For all Byon’s bravado, they knew he was terrified of moving to big, bad London and trying to make it on his own. Nicky was going to be left with his father—and Diana. Nadine wondered if she’d be able to return for that loveless marriage ceremony. Would they have a cake that was a replica of what they were actually marrying? Of Oxley Manor?
Laughter brought the nausea up and she halted to swallow it down. As she started walking again, she wished she knew where everyone was so she could stay out of sight. If any of them saw her and Sean together this late at night, they’d hurry to tell the others. They’d be gleeful at finding out that Nadine, who her rich father often called his princess, was in love with the low-class groomsman. All the snide, hateful things Byon had said about the man! Nadine had always pretended to laugh, but she did what was necessary to keep her father from finding out the truth.
When she’d told Sean she was pregnant, she’d braced herself for his anger. But he’d been ecstatic. He’d whirled her around as though they were a young married couple and everything was wonderful. When she’d told him her father would probably disown her, he’d hadn’t blinked an eye. He’d assured her that they’d be fine—and she had believed him.
They’d made their plans to run away on the last night and it was all in place.
She clutched at her heavy handbag. It was oversize and packed full. Even the wide straps were stuffed to the point of being lumpy.
She hadn’t dared tell Sean, but for the last month she’d been collecting jewelry. She’d gathered all she had, all that had been her mother’s and all she could coax her father into buying for her. He’d grumbled about the expense but he didn’t really mind. What else was he going to spend his money on but his daughter?
She’d put everything into one big, black bag. She’d slit the leather straps and fed diamond bracelets into them. The lining, the pockets, were all full. On top, she’d put a few scarves—just in case anyone noticed.
With her breath held, she went through the drawing room. Byon and Puck were dancing together, Nicky was sulking in a chair, his back to them. Clive and Willa weren’t there. Chasing each other, she thought. And Diana was missing. Please don’t let her be in the stables, snuggled up to some damned horse!
Nadine made it out the side door with no one seeming to notice. When she got near the stables she saw the light—but she also heard voices. Up on the little hill she could see Clive and Willa. He seemed to be bawling her out. Damn him! she thought. He was angry that they were all about to leave on The Adventure That Is Life, while he had to stay and bear the brunt of Nicky’s and Bertram’s endless anger. He took it all out on poor Willa.
Finally, Clive seemed to have said something so nasty that even masochistic Willa couldn’t take it. She ran down the path to the house, while Clive put his hands in his pockets and went the other way. He seemed to be feeling triumphant.
Too bad I won’t be here tomorrow to take him down, Nadine thought.
When it was quiet again, she went to the open stable doors. There was a saddle on a stand outside. She thought it was odd that Sean had left it there. Even she knew that rain might hurt the leather.
She went into the stables and saw that it was empty of people. One of the horses was dancing about, its eyes rolling around, so she stayed away from it. The others also seemed agitated but for all she knew, they were always like that.
She went back to Sean’s office but he wasn’t there. Just last night he’d shown her his suitcase, all packed and ready, in the corner by his big tool chest. She’d expressed concern that someone would see it, guess the truth and tell her father.
He’d kissed away her worries, assuring her that no one, not even Diana, came to his office. And if they did, they would pay no attention to an old suitcase in the corner.
The suitcase was no longer there.
Maybe it was a sixth sense or just her being paranoid, but she knew something was wrong. Felt it in her bones.
She didn’t know what to do. Wait for him to return? Go back to the house? Had he left her?
She went back into the center of the stables, facing the open doors, and sat down on a bale of hay. The horses seemed to be more agitated. Shouldn’t they be asleep? she thought. Did they miss Sean? They made soft sounds when he was around and nuzzled against him. Sometimes, they almost made Nadine jealous.
“Be quiet,” she hissed at them, but her words seemed to make them worse.
When she heard a sound outside, she ducked down beside the hay bales, but it was nothing. One of Bertram’s dogs, maybe.
/> It was when she stood up that she saw the corner of white fabric. It looked like one of Sean’s shirts, the heavy kind that he liked. Whatever was it doing back there?
She gave it a tug, and to her horror, out fell a pistol. It clattered on the wooden floor.
Nadine stood up, staring down at it in shock.
Sean had complained about rats in the stable, eating grain, opening bags, annoying his beloved horses. “I’d like to blast them off the earth,” he’d said.
Surely he hadn’t been shooting at them, Nadine thought. But if he did, then what? The gun fell down between the bales and he forgot about it?