Chapter 3

Kitty was exhausted by the time the coach reached Dover. She went straight to bed at the inn and stayed there for a day or two. Riccardo was most solicitous. He explained away Kitty's lack of a maid to the surprised landlady by saying one awaited her in France. He himself had an unsmiling, silent manservant called Lorenzo who dealt with everything during the day while Riccardo slept. Kitty found it rather unnerving to begin to share a bed with a man who never moved or talked until the sun was setting. She had worried about sharing the marital bed, but Ricardo had told her that it would be best to wait until he had turned her.

Then one evening, it was time to board the ship for France. A surprise awaited Kitty on board, inside the cabin.

'Lydia?' Kitty gasped. Her gaze fell on Lydia's companion. A handsome man with dark hair and laughing eyes who now looked older than he really was. 'George?'

Lydia's husband bowed to her. 'The very same,' he said, straightening and laughing as he swayed a little with the movement of the ship. It creaked as it moved with the restless water.

'I don't understand,' Kitty said. 'How do you come to be here?'

'Why, we were invited.' He nodded at Riccardo.

'And you are very welcome,' Riccardo said smoothly.

'But why did you invite them?'

'To keep you company, of course.'

'Company?' Kitty echoed.

Riccardo smiled at her. 'You told me how much you would miss your family so; I have made arrangements for your sister and his husband to join us.'

'To accompany us to Italy on our honeymoon?'

'That certainly,' Riccardo allowed, 'but I have also invited them to join the great and immortal company of vampires.'

He had asked Lydia and George to become vampires. Kitty reeled and Riccardo put out a hand to steady her.

'Are you ill, amore?'

She looked at him. 'You can't mean to turn Lydia and George into vampires?'

'Why not? They are willing.'

'Indeed, we are,' Lydia declared. 'Just fancy, looking young and beautiful forever.'

'Who could resist?' put in Wickham.

Kitty looking at them, knew that they had no principles to stop them becoming vampires. They were both amoral and selfish. She resolved to speak to her husband alone.

Later that night, in the privacy of their cabin, the best the ship could offer, she spoke to Riccardo of her concerns.

'I hate to say this, but Lydia and George will not behave. You tell me that vampires must be discreet in their dealings with humans. Lydia has not one discreet bone in her body. She is wilful and headstrong. And George thinks only of his own pleasures.'

'Trust me, amore, they will behave. I will be their sire and they will obey me.' Riccardo's mouth set in a firm line and his eyes flashed. 'They will learn obedience quickly or be severely punished.'

Kitty had rarely seen him look so stern and felt a little afraid. 'As will I?' she asked in a small voice.

Riccardo's mouth relaxed into a smile, and he pulled Kitty into a hug. 'I will never punish you because you will never need it.'

'Won't it be fun, Georgie, when we go back to England to see everyone's faces when we're still young and beautiful!'

'I'll say,' agreed George.

Riccardo frowned. 'It is best you avoid England for the next eighty years.' The same as he'd told Kitty.

'Oh no!' protested Lydia, tossing her yellow curls. 'Where's the fun in that? I want to see Jane and Lizzie as old ladies.'

'And I'd love to meet Darcy as a feeble old man,' said George. He laughed.

One minute, Riccardo was at Kitty's side, the next, he had grasped George by the throat and pinned him against the cabin's wall. George was the taller man but despite his struggles, he could not resist Riccardo's superior strength. Lydia rushed at Ricardo and beat at him with her fists. He batted her aside as a cat bats a ball of wool and sent her flying across the cabin. Kitty stood there, frozen with surprise and dismay.

'Listen to me. Either you agree to give up your petty ideas of revenge and obey me or I shall not turn you into vampires. If you do not become vampires then I will kill you both. Only vampires may know about the existence of vampires.'

George was choking and his face turning purple.

Kitty managed to speak. 'Riccardo! Please let him go.'

The count released him, and he slid to the floor. George massaged his neck and looked at the count resentfully. Lydia struggled up and flew to his side. Kitty could hardly breathe; she had never seen her new husband like this.

The count glanced at her. 'You have distressed my wife. Go to your cabin. Now.'

Lydia assisted George to rise, and they shuffled out.

'Excuse me, Cara,' said the count and left the cabin.

When he returned, Kitty asked him where he had been.

He smiled. 'Locking George and Lydia in their cabin.' He brandished a large brass key. 'For their protection.'

'For their protection?' echoed Kitty.

His smile was grim. 'Indeed. To ensure they cannot entertain any notions of - how do you say - taking their revenge. If they tried, I would have to destroy them. I have told the captain that they are unwell and will remain in their cabin for the remainder of the voyage. Lorenzo will look after them. I have friends waiting in France to assist us with our journey to Italy. Don't look so worried, Cara, all is well.'

Despite Riccardo's assurances, Kitty was worried.

The next evening, she looked down at the white-frothing waves. The ship bore her away from England and the life she had known to a different land and an entirely different future from the one she had imagined. What did the future hold?

She heard Riccardo's step and felt his strong arms go around her. 'Together forever, my love,' he whispered.

'You promise?' she whispered.

His arms tightened. 'I will do more than promise, I vow that we will never be separated.'

'No matter what happens?'

'No matter.' He kissed her on the neck, below her left ear.