Annie's Song
Chapter 12 : Ten.Alex awoke shortly after dawn the next morning to a nasty headache and a ruckus lou

Ten.

Alex awoke shortly after dawn the next morning to a nasty headache and a ruckus loud enough to wake the dead. Shrill voices. The disturbance reminded him of the other night when Annie had sunk her teeth into Mistress Perkins's finger. Not something he could comfortably ignore, hangover or no.

Wondering what sort of trouble his wife might be perpetrating this time, he groaned and swung out of bed.

After throwing on his clothes, Alex rushed from the master suite into the second-floor corridor and tracked the sound of raised voices directly to the nursery. Still barefoot, his s.h.i.+rt only partially b.u.t.toned, he stepped into the room, half expecting to see combatants writhing on the floor. Instead he found Maddy, three of the maids. Frederick the butler, and Henry the handyman, all gathered around Annie's bed. One of the maids held a stack of neatly folded sheets in her arms.

"What in blazes is going on in here?" Alex barked.

Apparently at a loss, Maddy turned to face him with her hands uplifted in a gesture of helpless quandary. "Yvonne just came in to do the cleanin' and change the sheets, as she always does each mornin'."

"So?"

Stuffing his s.h.i.+rttails into his trousers, Alex crossed the room. With a sweeping glance, he took stock of the situation.

Annie, en deshabille in a long-sleeved, nearly transparent white nightgown, seemed to be the center of attention. She sat cross-legged in the center of her rumpled bed, both shapely legs bare to the knee, arms extended as if to ward off encroachers. Looking down at her, Alex was put in mind of a skater who had just taken a spill on thin ice and was terrified that the people gathered around her might come charging to her rescue, go cras.h.i.+ng through, and take her down with them.

He rubbed a hand over his face and blinked, partly to clear the sleep from his eyes, but mostly because it was a nervous habit. Maddy said it made him look idiotic. But, oh, well.

When his vision cleared, Annie was still sitting there, her posture conveying more clearly than words that she wanted them to stay back. Regarding her, Alex couldn't rid himself of the feeling that she was trying to protect something. The question was, what? A bunch of rumpled bedding?

"I don't understand it," Maddy mused aloud. "Yesterday mornin' she got up without a fuss." She looked to Alex. "What should I do?"

Alex had several ideas, the first of which was to dispense with Frederick and Henry. He couldn't believe Maddy had allowed two men in here while his wife was so immodestly clothed. Through the bodice of her gown, her nipples shone like rosy little beacons. If he had noticed, he knew d.a.m.ned well Frederick and Henry had as well.

Hooking a thumb over his shoulder, he barked, "Out!"

Everyone but Annie jumped. Frederick went slightly wall-eyed, and a bright red flush crept up his neck. Henry, the less intelligent of the two, scratched above one ear and fastened a questioning blue gaze on his employer. "We just come to help, Mr. Montgomery."

"Out!" Alex repeated through clenched teeth. His head was beginning to feel like a melon that had been dropped on cement. "Now! This is my wife's bedchamber, for Christ's sake!"

The maids, all three as nervous as t.i.tmice, hurried to leave with the men. Alex caught Yvonne, the sheet bearer, by her elbow. "Not you!"

With a frightened squeak, the maid froze, looking up at Alex as though he had sprouted horns. Since he'd never so much as raised his voice to the woman, he could only wonder why she seemed afraid of him.

Releasing Yvonne's arm, he waited until both men and the other two maids had departed. Only then did he turn back to regard Annie. At the apex of her slender thighs, a shadowy triangle of darkness was clearly outlined under her gown.

Cross-legged. She had actually been sitting cress-legged in front of two men.

Shooting a glare at Maddy, he said, "Would you care to explain yourself, madam?"

"Just like I was sayin', Master Alex. For reasons beyond me, she refuses to get out of bed this mornin'."

"Not that! I meant-" Alex broke off. After looking into his housekeeper's guileless green eyes for a second, he groaned and rubbed a hand over his face again, striving to regain control of his temper. "In future, Maddy, I would appreciate it if no other men were allowed in my wife's bedchamber until she is properly dressed!"

Light dawned in Maddy's expression. "Oh." She glanced sideways at Annie. "Oh, of course. It was just- well, we had a bit of a situation in here, Master Alex. An emergency, if you will. And I-"

"A fire is an emergency. A tree falling on the house, that is an emergency. This" -he gestured with his hand-"is not! I do not appreciate your allowing her to be ogled. She may be daft, but you're certainly not."

"Yes." Two bright spots of pink flagged her plump cheeks.

"Now that ye mention it, I can see yer concern. Indeed I can. I apologize. I just didn't think, ye see. Her bein' so childlike and all, it just didn't occur to me that-" She broke off and blushed to the roots of her hair. "Well, Frederick and Henry, they're like part of the family."

Alex's gaze cut to the front of Annie's nightgown. In his estimation, childlike did not describe his wife's anatomy.

Grasping for a calmness that continued to elude him, Alex drew in a deep breath and slowly exhaled. He was behaving like a possessive husband, and overreacting, at that.

Turning the full blast of his glare on Yvonne, he asked, "Is there a particular hurry to change my wife's sheets?"

"N-no, sir. It's just that since she came, I've made it my habit to do her room first. Before bringing up breakfast and dusting and the like."

With exaggerated patience, Alex said, "Well, this morning, since my wife seems disinclined to begin her day, change your routine, Yvonne, and do her room last. Perhaps by the time you return, she will feel more enthusiastic about leaving her bed." He started to check his watch, then realized he hadn't gotten it off his dressing table. "It's rather early, isn't it? I'd be none too pleased if you rousted me out at this hour to change my sheets."

The blond-haired Yvonne nodded and bobbed a little curtsy.

"Y-yes, sir."

Alex glanced at Maddy. "If Annie wishes to stay abed on a Sunday morning, I can only applaud her good sense. Let her sleep, for G.o.d's sake."

With that, he returned to the master suite, his intention to follow Annie's good example and be a layabout for the rest of the morning. It was the Sabbath, after all. Once in a blue moon, a man had a do-nothing day coming to him.

He had just unb.u.t.toned his s.h.i.+rt when another loud knock came at the door. The sharp retort sent a pain lancing through his temples that made him wince. Striding across the room, he jerked the door open. "What now?"

Maddy stood in the hall. "I think ye'd better come. Annie's behavin' beyond peculiar, and I just can't figure what to make of it."

Before Alex could respond, his housekeeper, clearly beside herself, executed an abrupt about-face. Left with little alternative, he followed her back to the nursery. As he stepped into the room, he saw that Annie had finally chosen to vacate her bed and seemed to be searching through the layers of bedding for something.

"It looks to me as if she's lost something," he observed in a mild voice that belied his irritation. "What's peculiar about that?''

"What's peculiar about it? What could she have lost?"

"G.o.d knows." His headache growing worse by the second, Alex nearly groaned at the sound of his own voice. He'd think twice before upending a whiskey jug again. "What difference does it make what she's looking for?"

Closing the distance with three long strides, Alex gained the bed. Annie, apparently unaware until that moment that he'd entered the room, gave a violent start when he came to stand beside her. Then, bending forward at the waist, she spread her arms protectively over her bedding. To indicate he had no intention of touching anything, Alex folded his arms and watched as she lifted the top sheet and peeked beneath it.

Curious, he leaned sideways and craned his neck to see as well.

Nothing. The girl was obviously daft. Since that wasn't exactly news to anyone least of all to Maddy, Alex couldn't fathom why she'd summoned him. A peculiar girl behaving in a peculiar manner was not, in his books, peculiar.

"Maybe there are bedbugs," he said, knowing even before he made such a suggestion that Maddy would burst her seams at the mere thought. "In this house? Bite yer tongue!"

Perversely satisfied to have p.r.i.c.ked her ire, he returned his attention to Annie to find that she had gone from peering under her bedding to searching under her pillow. Finding nothing there, she began to pat her comforter, carefully palpitating the folds as though feeling for lumps. "She's definitely searching for something," Alex said. "And hasn't found it." He lifted an eyebrow at Maddy. "A hair ribbon, perhaps?"

"She wasn't wearin' one when she went to bed."

Alex glanced at the girl's hands. No ring. It occurred to him he needed to rectify that. A simple gold band. He should purchase one straight away, he supposed. But, then again, maybe it would be better to wait and speak with her mother first. For all he knew, there could be a reason Annie had no rings or necklaces. She might swallow them or some G.o.d-awful thing. "A piece of jewelry?" he asked, knowing even as he did what Maddy's reply would be.

"She has none."

He heaved an exasperated sigh. "Well, she's convinced she's lost something, Maddy. Maybe an imaginary something.

Why can't you just humor her?"

"But don't ye find her behavior strange?"

Alex shot the woman an amazed look. "What do you expect? Normal?" Nearly blind with the pain pounding behind his eyes, he headed for the door. "Humor her, I said. Help her search. Have yourself a cup of coffee while she searches. I don't really care, Maddy. Just leave me to my rest."

Maddy bristled at his tone and called after him, "I think ye be needin' some hair off the dog what bit ye. That's what I'm thinkin'."

Just the thought made his stomach roll.

Shortly after noon, Alex awoke to another knock at his chamber door. He couldn't quite believe that on the one occasion he chose to sleep late, he could get so little peace.

"I'm coming!" he called. "Quit that blasted pounding! I'm not deaf."

After dragging on his pants, he reached for his s.h.i.+rt and began putting it on as he crossed the room. He had one arm down a sleeve when Maddy cried, "Do hurry, Master Alex.

I've lost her!"

"You've what!" Picking up his pace, Alex lunged for the door, his s.h.i.+rt bunched around one elbow. Throwing the portal wide, he fastened an incredulous gaze on his housekeeper.

"Where have you lost her, for G.o.d's sake?"

"Well, if I knew that, she wouldn't be lost, now would she?"

Ignoring the sarcasm, he stepped past her into the hall. "Has she left the house?"

Maddy trotted alongside him as he moved toward the nursery. "When I brought her downstairs, I locked all the doors. If she got out, she had to go through a window." She made a squeaky sound of distress and pressed her knuckles against her mouth. In a m.u.f.fled voice, she cried, "I'll never fergive meself if somethin' has happened to her. There one minute and gone the next, she was. Just that fast. I really was watchin' her, Master Alex. I swear it as I breathe."

Drawing to a stop on the landing, Alex grasped the bal.u.s.trade and leaned over to cast a glance about the hall.

Forgetting his headache, he bellowed, "Annie!"

"It won't do any good, I tell ye. I've looked high and low.

As much as I hate to say it, I don't believe she's in the house."

His pulse beginning to pound like a sledge in his temples, Alex headed for the stairs. Annie, pregnant and on the loose, unsupervised. He imagined her s.h.i.+nnying up a tree and falling.

Or tripping over a tree root. A dozen different accidents could befall her. Descending the steps three at a time, he called back over his shoulder, "Just calm down, Maddy. If she's outdoors, it isn't a major catastrophe. She knows her way about. I'm sure she probably went home."

Taking jarring little steps, the plump housekeeper raced to keep apace with him. When he gained the first floor and began trying the front doors, she planted her fists on her hips and said, "I told ye I locked 'em all. Do ye doubt me word?"

"Of course not. I'm just checking to be sure." Alex moved swiftly through the house to try all the other exits. All the doors were locked, just as Maddy claimed. "I don't suppose you latched all the windows?"

Maddy pursed her mouth. "No, I didn't think to do that. I'm sorry, Master Alex. I never dreamed she'd go out a window."

Because he knew Maddy was usually pretty careful about relatching the windows after she'd had them open, Alex said, "It can't hurt to check all the latches. If we find one unfastened, it'll be a good indication she's slipped outside."

Yelling for the staff, Maddy organized an efficient team to a.s.sist them in making their rounds. Within minutes, Alex met her back in the hall. "The parlor window was unfastened. She might have gone out that way." At the housekeeper's stricken expression, he softened his tone and clasped her shoulder.

"Maddy, would you stop? She'll be fine. I'll dress and ride over to the Trimbles'. I'm sure I'll find her there."

She nodded and sniffed. "I just pray nothin' has happened to her. Such a sweet little thing, she is. I'll never fergive meself."

"I'm sure nothing has happened. As much as I hate to admit it, now that Douglas is gone, I doubt there's a man in the area rotten enough to bother her, and aside from what Douglas did to her, she's been wandering in the woods for years without getting hurt. The only reason I don't allow it now is because of her pregnancy. Stop fretting. I'll have her home in two shakes of a lamb's tail. Mark my words."

Annie was not at the Trimble place. Even more surprising to Alex was that neither of her parents seemed to be alarmed when he appeared on their doorstep, looking for his wife. Edie suggested that Alex might find her in the woods. Not that it was necessary for him to go out searching. It was Annie's habit to roam, she reminded him, and had been for years.

Along toward dark, she would come home, either to Alex's place or to the Trimbles'. If she chose the latter, her parents a.s.sured Alex they would send him a message so he could come collect her.

Still uneasy despite the Trimbles' rea.s.surances, Alex searched the woods before heading home. It was like looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack. Open country stretched in all directions, and he knew Annie could be almost anywhere.

In the end, he had no choice but to return to Montgomery Hall and wait. If she hadn't shown up by dusk, he would organize a search party.

As far as he was concerned, evening couldn't come quickly enough. Until Annie was home again, he wouldn't draw an easy breath. True, she'd been roaming the hills for most of her life. But that had been before her condition had become so delicate. He couldn't quite credit her mother's indifference.

All manner of accidents could befall a pregnant woman, especially someone like Annie who didn't comprehend the dangers. Just the thought of her getting hurt made him feel panicky. Annie, with her tangled dark hair and big blue eyes.

In an amazingly short time, she had wormed her way into his heart and become more important to him than he cared to admit.

Expecting Maddy to still be in a stew, Alex didn't tarry when he reached the stables. Quickly dismounting, he turned his horse over to a stableboy and went directly to the house. As he entered the hall, Maddy leaned over the upstairs bal.u.s.trade and called down to him.

"She's back. Safe and sound."

Relief made Alex's legs feel weak. Needing a moment to regain his composure, he leaned against the carved entrance doors, his gaze uplifted to Maddy's beaming face. "Where was she?"

The housekeeper lifted her hands in a bewildered shrug.

"I've no idea. We were searching the house, and suddenly, there she was. If I didn't know better, I'd think she oozed out from under a mopboard."

Alex frowned. Recalling the unlatched parlor window, he said, "More likely, she came back in the way she went out."

Annie suddenly appeared on the landing. Giving her a once-over, Alex was quick to note the telltale dirt smudges on her pale blue frock and white stockings. Her dark hair in its usual tangle of curls, she gazed down at him with those gigantic blue eyes, her expression unaccountably solemn.

Alex guessed that she realized, however vaguely, that she'd done something wrong and might be in trouble. So she would know he wasn't angry, he made it a point to smile and wink at her. As nasty a scare as she'd given all of them, she couldn't really be blamed; holding her accountable was out of the question.

The way to handle this, he a.s.sured himself, was to take extra precautions so it wouldn't happen again. He looked at Maddy.

"Have you a minute or two you might spare? I think we need to set down some new rules around here, not just for the household staff, but also for ourselves. We can't have her slipping outdoors again. Until the baby's born, it isn't safe. If she got injured while away from the house, she could very well bleed to death before anyone found her."

At the suggestion, Maddy went as pale as whitewashed pickets. "I'll be right down."

Minutes later, Alex and his housekeeper met in his study.