The Countess Page 0,4

anyone could do about her situation and discussing it would merely bring her misery to the surface. It was easier when she simply didn't think about it. "What is going on? Why are you two here?"

Suzette and Lisa exchanged a glance and then Lisa final y spoke up for the first time since their arrival and announced, "Father has been gambling again."

"What?" Christiana gasped with dismay. "But he promised never to gamble again after Dicky paid off his last gambling debts."

It was how she'd ended up married to the man. Her father had landed them in hot water with one aberrant night of drinking and gambling. He'd raised what money he could by sel ing family heirlooms to meet the debt, but it hadn't been enough, and he'd been at a loss as to how to pay the rest. The creditors had been knocking on the door when fortune had seemed to smile on them in the form of Dicky. He'd arrived at Madison Manor with an offer of marriage for Christiana, and on hearing of their dire straits had offered to clear the remainder of her father's debts in exchange for Christiana's hand in marriage.

To her father's credit, he'd refused the offer until Dicky had convinced him that he loved Christiana. Dicky had claimed to have seen her at the local fair that summer and spoken to her briefly, which she hadn't recal ed at al . He'd also claimed he'd been fascinated and found out al he could about her and that everything he'd learned he'd found pleasing.

His words had been convincing and her father had been swayed, but despite his dire straits, had insisted that while he would give his blessing to the union, it was only if she was wil ing. Unfortunately, Christiana had been easy enough to persuade. Dicky was handsome, wel off and an Earl. Any girl would be flattered to be courted by such a man. And what a courtship! He'd been the sweetest of men, cal ing her his little rosebud and romancing her with touching poems and declarations of undying love. It had al been rather heady to a simple girl who had spent her life quietly in the country with only her sisters and one neighbor boy for company, and in no time at al he'd swept her off her feet and gained her agreement.

Christiana grimaced at the thought of the naive idiot she'd been, and now saw that she should have questioned his motives and insisted on more time to make her decision. But her father only had two weeks to pay off his gambling debts, and she'd foolishly believed every word Dicky had said to her. She'd been sure he must love her and that there could be no other purpose for his rapturous courting. After al , what other reason could there be? It was not as if he knew about the outrageously huge dower that her mother's father, Baron Sefton, had bestowed on herself and her two sisters in his wil . That was a family secret.

Of course, once they'd married and his behavior had changed so dramatical y Christiana had begun to suspect he'd known about the dower after al and that gaining it had been the true target of his courting. She just didn't know how he could have learned about it.

"Father said he didn't mean to," Suzette said unhappily, drawing Christiana's mind back to this new problem. "He feels horrible about what's happened and has been scrambling to try to figure out a way to pay off his debts, but can think of nothing."

Christiana grimaced. He'd felt horrible the last time too. "When did it happen?

And how? He has not even been to London and there is nowhere near Madison for him to - "

"He has been in London this last month," Lisa corrected quietly. "Didn't you know?"

"No," Christiana admitted with dismay. "Why didn't he come to see me?"

"He did," Suzette assured her. "In fact it was his original reason for traveling to London. He was worried because Dicky hadn't brought you home to visit, and we weren't getting responses to the letters we were sending."

"I haven't received any letters, and I have been writing faithful y every week,"

Christiana said quietly, anger beginning a slow burn in her stomach. Not getting responses to her own letters had left her feeling even more lonely and depressed.

Now it seemed Dicky had somehow been ensuring none of her letters went out and that she didn't receive