The Duchess and the Spy (31 page)

“Aye.”

“And you’re not going to actually give them anything they can use, are you, Bella?”

“Indeed not, Uncle Duncan.”

“Well, I know that your husband and most of his family work for the Crown. For the most part, I am removed from that life now…when Claudette died, and you were taken, I didn’t have the heart for it anymore.”

“I understand, Uncle Duncan. The trouble is…I don’t know what to do…if I make one wrong step…I could cause Daphne her life.”

“Hmm…aye, quite a grave situation indeed. We shall face it together. I am quite certain that your husband could shed some light onto this for us.”

“Pray, he can’t ever know, Uncle. He can’t. He will think so badly of me.”

“I am quite certain he already has his suspicions, he is not a daft man, dear.”

“I think you should tell him, and Jason,” Roselyn said. “You can’t keep your secrets forever, and if they in any way endanger you, then, you must have it all out with him. As your husband, you owe him that much.”

“I suppose, you are right,” she said, clenching her hands together in her lap. It felt good to confess all, and yet, she didn’t want Christopher to know the truth, even though she knew he probably already knew, confirming it to him, would make her feel wretched.

“Are you staying here?” she asked.

“Elphinstone House is being redecorated and Grandmamma invited us to stay with her. We weren’t aware that you had been married, so we thought that you would be staying here, and we would be able to have a visit.” She smiled. Her grandmother seemed to be Grandmamma to everyone in the family, and Rose had always called her that as Duncan’s mother was dead, Isabella’s paternal grandmother had also perished in The Terror.

“When will Grandmamma arrive?”

“Probably by tomorrow,” Duncan supplied, “Though in truth, she should have arrived with us, but Elise is traveling along with Adaira, and they had to take extra rest breaks for the dear, because Elise can’t sit in a carriage for very long anymore. Everyone rejoiced when Mary sent the news that you were coming home, and your Aunt Elise became so excited that she insisted upon accompanying your grandmother. The women in your family are quite extraordinary.”

Roselyn carefully unfurled a small watercolor painting that she had done just for Isabella.

“I painted this for you,” she said, showing her the picture of Castle Moil. I knew that you would want to be reminded of home as soon as I saw you.”

“You are a dear,” she breathed, staring at the vivid colors and uncanny authentic character of the painting.

“Ah, yes, she does have the gift. She’s even painted a few portraits for families that live near us. I think she should paint you as well, Bella, as she’s captured you quite well in this picture.”

Isabella stared at her younger self. She looked so carefree—so happy. A lump lodged in her throat as she realized how much she’d lost—and now being back in England, how much she had gained. She could never go back to that simpler time, but she could remember it in her heart for the rest of her days.

Christopher came back into the Saloon, and she finally lost it. She had to know what he’d meant earlier. “Do you think that I am only good for one thing, Christopher?” she asked softly.

He looked shocked, and Duncan and Roselyn gasped.

“Now…you were eavesdropping,” he accused. “I knew it. You have it all wrong. I wasn’t talking about you, you silly woman, I was talking about Merryville’s mistress.”

“Now,” Duncan cleared his throat. “I would rather not talk about such women with my young impressionable daughter present.”

“Oh, Papa, I know all about men and their sins…I know how some men keep mistresses on the side.”

“You do?”

“Aye, Papa.”

Duncan looked uncomfortable, as a footman brought the tea round.

“Well, as it is, Merryville’s mistress has caused a heap of trouble for us, and he is in quite a bad way, and I shall leave it at that because your uncle is quite right, this is not the kind of civil whiskers we should be having in polite society.”

Isabella felt wretched. She had to stop thinking the worst of everything Christopher said and did.

“Oh, poor Lord Merryville,” Isabella lamented.

“You are referring to Lady Horn, are you not?” Duncan asked.

“Aye.”

“She was a conniving woman even before she married the earl,” Duncan mused. “Two years after her marriage, he died mysteriously and her young son that conveniently resembled a certain Baron is now going to inherit the title. She received everything that she planned on getting, and never even cared about what happened to her darling Dudley, as she always referred to him as. What I can’t understand is how a friend of yours got interested in the devious Nellie. I would warrant that she is probably old enough to be his mother.”

“I shan’t eavesdrop in the future. No good comes from it,” she sighed.

“Oh, well, my love, I wouldn’t make that sort of a promise, we both know you’re likely to fail at keeping it.”

Duncan and Roselyn laughed. “She does have a penchant for trouble,” Duncan mused. “Oh, what a handful the three of them were back when they were wee ones.”

“Papa used to say that Jason and Isabella together were a recipe for trouble,” Roselyn laughed. “He didn’t have to worry about me. I was an angel.”

“Sure you were,” Isabella laughed. “Your halo was askew most of the time.”

Roselyn had made the tea and started to pass the cups out of everyone. “Ah, this is one of the things I missed in France. Pierre, couldn’t abide tea.” Isabella stopped realizing her error.

“Tell us more about Pierre,” Christopher invited. “I saw the little prick at the bal masque, and yet, I don’t know half as much of what I should know about the little bastard.”

“Indeed, I think you should tell him everything,” Duncan said.

“I don’t think he wants to know…and I can’t say I want to tell him.”

Christopher sighed heavily.

“The one thing I will always regret is not being here for Aunt Claudette, Uncle Duncan. I am so sorry that I wasn’t here to help her. I should have been there for all of you. If only Pierre Dubois had never been born, and sometimes I wish I had never been born as well. I seem to cast a shadow across the lives of all those I hold dear to my heart.”

“Never say that again, Bella,” Duncan said sternly, emotion catching in his voice. “We all love you dearly, and wouldn’t have our lives any other way. Your presence in them has enriched our lives. You have cast a light in our lives, not a shadow, and I won’t have you thinking any differently. Is that understood?”

“Completely,” she whispered. “Thank you, Uncle Duncan.”

“Take your hand and shove it somewhere, Gibbons,” Adaira ordered in her strong voice. “I am not feeble, you daft man.” She slammed her cane against the floor again to better demonstrate her meaning.

“Grandmamma!” Isabella said happily. Now everyone would let the Pierre subject drop.

“Ah, it is so good to have you back in the bosom of the family,” her grandmother said, embracing her. Elise sighed happily, and embraced her as well. “What a grand day today is,” Adaira said. Christopher came to stand beside her. “Lord Wyndham,” her grandmother said, eyeing him warily. “Why are you here?”

“He is my husband, Grandmamma.”

“I do believe I am losing my hearing. I don’t think I heard you correctly.”

“You heard me correctly.”

“So, you’re infatuation with him has been made legal. Congratulations, my dear girl. However, I would have liked to have had you back as an unmarried woman. Alas, we can’t always have what we want in life. Are you still getting into mischief with Lord Elphinstone, laddie?”

She giggled. Hearing her grandmother call Christopher laddie was too amusing. She liked it when her uncle had done it but her Grandmother calling him it was even funnier.

“I…I think I’ve rather grown out of that, Madam.”

“I wouldn’t count on it, Christopher. I think you’re still able to find mischief.”

“You can as well, wife.”

She smiled. 

“So I suppose that makes you Lady Wyndham while you’re in England. It’s a touch below being a duchess, but at least he’s in line for a dukedom. Now, after such a long travel, I need three things. A good strong drink, a nice hot bath, and a good long sleep. Are you staying here with me, dearest?”

“I should say not. We are residing at my townhouse,” Christopher said.

“Why did you marry him?”

“He gave me little choice, Grandmamma. It was the only respectable thing to do.”

“And as my wife, she has my protection.”

“I do hope you’re not insinuating that we failed to protect her?” Adaira asked sharply.

“Nothing of the sort, Madam. I merely wanted to express that Isabella will be safe with me.”

“Hmm…” she said, sizing him up and down. “I suppose she could have done worse.”

“Probably better than what she could have found on her own.”

“I think…is that an insult, sir?”

Duncan peeked out from the parlour, and then ducked back in, when he saw the furiously outraged expression on Adaira’s face.

Then, he stuck his head out again, and said, “Watch it laddie, you just angered a very scary Scottish Lassie,” he announced, staring at them both wide-eyed.

“Are you afraid of her, sir?” Christopher asked.

“Bloody right I am, laddie. I learned a long time ago that you definitely do not challenge Adaira.”

“Listen to your elders my wee laddie,” Adaira advised, squinting as she inspected every last inch of Christopher’s face. “And why exactly did my darling lass have to marry you?”

“She had to marry me because I compromised her.”

“Why you pugnacious libertine,” Adaira breathed icily, as she whirled away from him, and then turned back quickly, making him give her one of his more charming smiles.

“I am neither pugnacious nor a libertine,” he denounced, winking mischievously over at Isabella. “Your dear lassie on the other hand, has a tendency to be quite contentious when she finds that things aren’t going the way that she wants them to. Unfortunately, you have clearly demonstrated that this personality flaw is a family trait.”

“Christopher, you saucy man, you stop this behaviour right now. We are married. Why we were married is neither here nor there, now. It is done, and it can’t be undone.”

“Indeed,” Christopher said.

“Hmm…in that case, I shall welcome you to the family, laddie. If you hurt my Isabella, I shall make you rue it bitterly. Is that clear?”

“Quite.”

“In that case, I think I shall go and have my drink or my hot bath….”

“It is good that you stay on the good side of my Grandmother, Christopher, or else, she’ll cook you up something dire in her cauldron.”

Adaira laughed. “Ah, go on, lassie.” Christopher laughed too, thinking her in jest. “I haven’t pulled out my cauldron in years.”

At her words, Christopher stopped laughed. “Is she serious?” he asked out of the corner of his mouth.

“Oh, aye,” Isabella said, “she is.”

“I promise you I shall make Isabella quite happy.”

“And you shall do well to remember those words in the coming years, for I shall have my eyes on you.”

“I think Christopher and I should take our leave, Grandmamma, and allow you and Aunt Elise to have some time to yourselves.”

“I shall be outside waiting for you, Isabella,” Christopher said, finally taking his leave.

“I do believe that the two of you are perfect for each other. He can keep you safe. I hear he is a most dangerous man.

“You can keep me safe.”

“I thought that I could keep you safe, and you were still taken from me,” Adaira whispered wistfully. Elise rose from her position.

“Listen to your grandmother, my dear girl,” she said warmly. “There will be plenty of time to get reacquainted in the days ahead. I myself am quite fagged, so I do believe you should go home with your husband, and we shall see you all upon the morrow.”

“Upon my word, Roselyn, they are eager to be rid of me.”

“Why we do not want to shuffle you off into obscurity, we just want you to cheer that man up,” Elise declared softly.

“Even after what he said to you, Grandmamma?”

“Ah, my dear, I don’t believe that he was very sincere with his harsh comments. Indeed, I even believe that his eyes sparkled with restrained mirth. He was just trying to get me rattled, and he did it quite superbly. I respect that. At first, I believed that he was a blackguard of the worst sort, but then my opinion of him began changing when I noticed how he stared at you in such apparent adoration. My dear, enjoy every minute that you have with that man, and I daresay that you will feel quite fulfilled. He compliments you in every way, even if he does act like a little nincompoop at times.” With that, she kissed Isabella on the cheek.

“I am so happy to be back home,” she said, moving to the front door. The butler whisked it open, and she found Christopher waiting for her as he’d promised.

“Christopher, I suppose that it is time for us to return to Wyndham House.” Isabella frowned, she didn’t want to leave, but for the sake of keeping peace, she would.

“You shall bring her back tomorrow, and you will grace us with your presence at the evening meal, in this I am resolute,” Adaira declared.

“She may come and visit you whenever the fancy strikes her,” Christopher agreed, watching Adaira carefully.

“I may?” Isabella was outraged. She had to get out of the mansion before she went stark raving mad. “Until tomorrow, everyone.”

She raced down the street in the direction of Wyndham House, and heard Christopher calling out anxiously to her. She put her hands over her ears, and looked back over her shoulder and gave him a defiant scowl. She was doing it again, she was acting like a spoiled brat—and she couldn’t help herself!

During her momentary distraction, a pair of grimy hands reached out for her, and tossed her into the waiting carriage. She screamed, and fought them, but the man was unbelievably strong, and she was quite simply exhausted.

He started speaking to her in French, and she tensed in horror at the feel of a steely blade pressed against her side. “Scream again, and I gut you like a fish. You have made your uncle very unhappy, he knows about your strategy, and he wants to give you a warning.” She held her breath, waiting in terrified expectation for him to finish. “He wanted me to deliver this to you.” He shoved the letter into her shaky hands, and waited while she read it.

My dearest Isabella,

I wouldn’t want you to forget that I have your precious Daphne. So pray do not try to challenge me. I have people everywhere. As soon as they report back to me with news that I do not want to hear, I will personally ensure that Daphne meets a tragic fate of grand proportions. Be wise my dear, and do the right thing.

Your doting uncle,

Pierre

She shuddered as she read the letter and moaned as the man pulled it out of her hand. “He wants us to give you this message,” the man began just as the carriage was suddenly jarred to an abrupt stop.

Christopher barrelled in and knocked the dagger from the man’s hand. She wanted to help Christopher, but he seemed to have it well in hand. He slammed his fist into the man’s face, and turned and caught the man’s hand, just as he pulled out another dagger. He struggled with him, for a few seconds, but easily overpowered and stabbed him with his own dagger.

The man moaned, and she reached for the letter and wisely placed it inside of her reticule. “We’ll be watching you, always,” The man whispered in French, finishing the threat that he had begun before Christopher killed him. He turned to her, and before he could say anything, she took the letter out and ripped it up.

“They shan’t ever give me peace…not until I am dead.”

He looked at her and drew her to him. “You have to tell me everything, Isabella. Pray confide in me.”

Her uncle’s voice carried to her, and she heard Jack and Jason calling to them as well. “We can’t speak right now…I shall tell you all later, Christopher. You have my word.”

He helped her out of the carriage, and her legs were shaking so much, she fell against him.

“Take care of that, would you,” Christopher asked Jack. Jack dumbly nodded his head.

“She’s brought trouble to Mayfair. I told you she would,” Jack said.

“I don’t want to listen to that right now, Jack old boy,” he said.

“What happened?” Jason asked quickly, scanning over the scene of destruction.

“They tried to take Isabella, and they failed.”

“Are you hurt Isabella?” Duncan asked.

“No,” she said shakily. “I am fine, thanks to Christopher. If he hadn’t come along…I don’t know what would have happened to me.”

“He does have a certain flair when it comes to dispatching villainous frogs,” Jack raved. “You are the pride of the Brandons tonight.”

“She looks awfully pale. Make haste and get her home,” Jason said,

She felt her side, and watched as Christopher looked down to her wound. She thought her side had hurt because she’d gotten herself overexcited, but it looked as if the fiend had gotten her.

“Damnation. Fetch our doctor, here in town, Jason. He can fix Isabella up. Never run off on me again, Isabella. I think I had the worst fright of my life when I saw you taken.”

“I won’t…I won’t be so foolish ever again.” She sank against his side, as he swept her up into his arms, and carried her the rest of the way.