Royal Blood - By Rhys Bowen Page 0,8

you.”

“I wouldn’t think that,” I said. I sat up. “Why is everything going round and round suddenly?”

“Come on,” he said. “Let me get you into bed. Alone, I mean. I’ll stop by in the morning. You’ll probably have a devil of a headache.”

He helped me out of my slip. “My, but you’ve got a lovely body,” he said. “I must want my head examined.”

Suddenly he froze. “What was that?”

“What?”

“It sounded like the front door shutting. Nobody else is here at the moment, are they?”

“No, I’m all alone.” I sat up, listening. I thought I could make out the sound of footsteps and voices down below.

“I’m going to see what’s going on,” Darcy said. He went out onto the landing, while I reached for my dressing gown on the hook behind the door. It wasn’t easy to stand up at this stage and I had to hold on to the door to steady myself. Then I heard the words that sobered me up instantly.

“Binky, Fig, you’re back.”

Chapter 4

Rannoch House

November 9 and 10

I staggered out onto the landing, conscious that the floor kept rising up to meet me and that the stairs were floating out into infinity. I clutched the banister as I made my way down the first flight. In the hallway at the bottom of the second flight, standing on the checkered black-and-white marble, were two blobs in fur coats with pink things on top. Gradually they swam into focus as two horrified faces with mouths open.

“Good God, O’Mara, what are you doing here?” Binky demanded.

“I should think that even for someone with your limited imagination it’s pretty clear what he was doing here,” Fig said in an outraged voice as she stared up at me. “How dare you, Georgiana. You have betrayed our trust. We graciously offer the use of our house and you turn it into a den of—den of—what’s it a den of, Binky?”

“Lions?” Binky said.

Fig sighed and rolled her eyes. “Utterly hopeless,” she muttered.

“Iniquity?” Darcy suggested. He seemed to be the only person not in the least put out by this. I was still making my way unsteadily down the stairs and didn’t trust myself to let go of the banister. I didn’t trust my voice, either.

“Precisely,” Fig snapped. “A den of iniquity, Georgiana. Thank heavens we didn’t bring little Podge with us to witness this. It might have scarred him for life.”

“To know that normal people might want to have sex occasionally?” Darcy asked.

Fig put her hand to her throat at the mention of the word “sex.” “Say, something, Binky,” Fig said, pushing him forward. “Speak to your sister.”

“What-ho, Georgie,” he said. “Good to see you again.”

“No, you idiot, I meant speak to her.” Fig was almost dancing around in anger by now. “Tell her that her behavior is simply not on. It’s not the way a Rannoch behaves. She’s turning into her mother, after all we’ve done for her and all that money we’ve spent on her education.”

“Now look here,” Darcy said, but she leaped at him.

“You look here, Mr. O’Mara.” Fig took a menacing step toward him, but Darcy stood his ground bravely. “I suppose you’re to blame for this. Georgie has had a sheltered upbringing. She is inexperienced in the ways of the world and certainly lacking in judgment to allow you into the house when she is all alone. I think you had better leave us before I say any more, although I fear the damage is already done. Prince Siegfried would certainly not want her now.”

For some reason I found this very funny. I sank onto the stair and started giggling uncontrollably.

“Don’t worry, I’m going,” Darcy said. “But I’d like to remind you that Georgie is over twenty-one and it’s up to her what she does.”

“Not in our house,” Fig said.

“It’s the home of the Rannochs, isn’t it? And she’s been a Rannoch a bally sight longer than you have.”

“But it now belongs to the current duke and that is my husband,” Fig said in her most frosty “I’m a duchess and you’re not” voice. “Georgiana is living here on our grace and favor.”

“With no heat and no servants. I don’t consider that much of a favor, Your Grace,” Darcy said. “Especially when your dear husband, the duke, might have been lying six feet under by now in the family plot, and your little son beside him, had it not been for Georgie. It seems to me you owe her more than a little thanks.”

“Well, of course we’re grateful for