An Inconvenient Arrangement: Rose Room Rogues ~ Book Three

by Callie Hutton

  Lydia turned back to Dante who was following them up the stairs and they both burst into laughter.

  “Oh, my. That probably wasn’t a smart question now, was it?” Diana raised her hands to her face, attempting to hide her blush.

  “Welcome back, boss.” Keniel was the first to greet them as Dante and Lydia entered the club from the back door.

  “Good evening, Mrs. Rose.” Keniel took her extended hand and kissed it. “Are you here to keep the players at the vingt-et-un table enchanted with your presence?”

  “No!” Dante blurted out the word before even thinking. First, he wasn’t too happy with all the charm oozing from his manager and directed at his wife, and second to suggest she deal cards was enough to have him gritting his teeth.

  “Mrs. Rose will be working on the books up in the office.”

  “Ah.” Keniel stepped back and his entire demeanor changed. “I am sure Driscoll will be grateful for the help.” He nodded and walked toward the employees’ room.

  Lydia turned on him the minute Keniel was out of sight. “That was quite rude, Dante.”

  “What?” He was already feeling guilty at his abrupt behavior with his manager, but he’d had an overwhelming sense of guarding what was his that he’d never felt before. And probably had scoffed at his brothers for doing the same thing with their wives.

  “He was only asking a question, and considering I’ve dealt before, it wasn’t an unreasonable one.” They started up the stairs to the level where the office and dining room were located.

  “No dealing.”

  Lydia sighed. “I know that.”

  They entered the dining room and Dante immediately poured himself a cup of coffee. It was too early for dinner to be served, which was usually brought up from the kitchen and left as a buffet for him and Driscoll. They had invited Keniel to join them more than once, but he’d always declined.

  Tonight he was glad he had.

  “Dante, this message came for you a few days ago. I told Driscoll about it, but he said to hold onto it until you returned.” Daniels, one of his security guards held out a folded piece of paper.

  “Thank you.” Dante took the missive and opened it as the security guard left. He glanced at the terse words.

  I need to speak with you and Miss Sanford. Please attend me as soon as possible.

  Sir Phillip

  He looked up at Lydia. “It seems we are being summoned by Sir Phillip.”

  Lydia removed the paper from his hand and studied it. “He apparently isn’t aware of our marriage.” She glanced up at him. “Maybe he needs to get statements from us.”

  “I already gave them one when you were busy making wedding plans.” The summons then had also been curt. He’d met with Sir Phillip and told him what he’d seen the night the Ambassador had been confronted. Another man had been present in the office at the time who Dante had never seen before. A small, quiet sort who Dante thought looked like a squirrel as he scribbled away. The man took notes and then handed the paper to him which Dante read over and signed. At the time it appeared his part of the investigation was over.

  “I didn’t know you had already met with Sir Phillip.”

  “He didn’t ask in his summons to have you present as well, so with you so busy with Diana and Amelia, it slipped my mind.”

  Lydia studied the note again. “Yet now he wants to see both of us.” She shrugged and dropped the missive on the table. “I guess we will find out soon enough.”

  * * *

  The next morning, Dante and Lydia left Hunt’s townhouse and climbed into his carriage for the trip to Sir Phillip’s office. They were both silent, having enjoyed meager sleep the night before. Once they’d returned from the club and climbed into bed, they reached for each other, sleep far from their minds.

  Dante had been thrilled at how receptive Lydia was to his attentions. She’d turned out to be an enthusiastic bed partner, willing to try things he’d never expected a woman of her station to indulge in. Although he’d had his share of ladies of the ton in his bed, they had always been widows, not young innocent women.

  Yes, this marriage would not be the boring, insipid relationship he’d always assumed marriage would be.

  Lydia sat with her head resting on the soft leather squab, her eyes closed. She was perfection. Smooth, soft skin, features that were not perfect, but lent a bit of interest to her face. But the best part of his wife, aside from how she’d embraced the marriage bed, was how much he enjoyed her company. The numerous women he’d bedded over the years had been for only one purpose. He’d found it exciting that in between making love during their three day trip, they’d discussed numerous subjects.

  He’d confirmed what he’d always thought. Lydia was an intelligent woman with a soft, caring side. Who would have known he, the sworn bachelor, would step willingly into the parson’s noose and then enjoy every moment? Life certainly had a way of moving one in a direction never anticipated.

  Sir Phillip greeted them at the door and led them to his office. ‘Twas hard to read the man since he had the ability to keep a straight face, showing no emotion no matter the situation.

  “Felicitations on your marriage,” Sir Phillip said as he took his seat behind the desk and waved at the two chairs in front of him for them to sit.

  “Thank you,” they said together.

  The man actually smiled at them which was quite a surprise. “I didn’t know about the happy event until I sent the note to you and Driscoll was kind enough to send a message back that you were on your honeymoon.” He shook his head. “Very few things in life take me by surprise, but I admit this was one of them.”

  He cleared his throat and leaned forward. “I have news about the Ambassador and your investigation of which you must be made aware.”

  Dante glanced at Lydia, who raised her eyebrows in question.

  “First of all, I congratulate you both on a job well done. The Ambassador was quite cooperative in naming the source of his information.” He stopped and seemed to give himself time to consider his words.

  “The woman in question was mistress to one of our Home Office high ranking officials.”

  This was news to Dante since when he’d appeared before Sir Phillip the last time, he was given no information, but was merely asked to give a statement.

  “That is how she got the information she passed to the Ambassador?” Lydia asked.

  “Yes. She and the Ambassador were both confronted that night at the theater. As was the usual procedure, the Ambassador had diplomatic immunity from prosecution and could be detained, but not arrested.”

  “I have a feeling there is more to the story. What is it you are not telling us, since this all seems to be normal protocol?”

  Sir Phillip took a deep breath and stared at him. “The woman involved with the Ambassador was of course, arrested, as well as her contact at the Home Office. However, I received word the morning I sent the note that the Ambassador has not returned to Germany.”

  Dante frowned. “Isn’t that the usual process when a high-ranking embassy official is involved in espionage?”

  “Yes. But, at this time I am unable to get any information as to how and why he remains in England.”

  Since Sir Phillip had a web of contacts that was certainly a surprise.

  Sir Phillip paused for a moment, gathering his words. “I just learned yesterday that the woman in question was found dead in her cell in gaol.”

  Dante and Lydia looked at each other. Dante reached for her hand. Sir Phillip continued. “Poisoned. No one is sure how she got the deadly drug. Then the man from the Home Office has also met with an unfortunate accident while under house arrest.”

  “Dead?” Dante asked.

  “Yes.” Sir Phillip stared at Dante. “That is why I called you both here today. I believe there is a possibility that you and your wife might be in danger.”

  21

  “You are to go nowhere without me.” Dante set down that edict the moment they settled
into the carriage for their return trip home.

  Lydia wanted to argue against his arrogance, but she was too frightened to do so. She had no intention of going anywhere without him. Her assignments with the Home Office had never been dangerous because translating languages didn’t exactly lead to murder.

  Until now.

  “We can’t live in fear the rest of our lives.” She tried in vain to stop her voice from shaking. “We have to find out who killed those two people and have them arrested and charged.”

  Dante pointed his finger at her. “You will do nothing to find out who killed those people. I will visit with the Metropolitan Police first and then with whatever information I receive, hire an investigator to find the murderer for us.”

  Sir Phillip had given them the names of the guards at the gaol who were responsible for the Home Office man’s mistress who’d been murdered, and the name and address of the traitor himself who’d been under house arrest. Sir Phillip had been reluctant to surrender the information, but when Dante had threatened to blow the whistle on the entire secret operation run by Sir Phillip, the man had relented.

  Currently, Dante held the crumbled piece of paper with the names on it in his hand. “After some consideration, I believe the best place for me to start is probably not at the police department. Since this operation, like all of them with Sir Phillip, was surreptitious, he would have been unable to offer the information necessary to convince the police that the deaths were not accidents. Hence I doubt I would get any cooperation from them. What I will do is take a trip to Bath and visit with Mr. Nick Smith.”

  Lydia frowned. “Who is he?”

  “A former mudlark and cut-purse, raised in the East End of London, who rose above it all to own an extremely profitable and exclusive gaming club in Bath. From what I’ve heard he married the sister of an Earl—if you could believe it—and sold the gambling club. He is now the owner of numerous businesses and is an upstanding member of Bath society.”

  “He sounds like an amazing man. But why contact him?”

  “Because he’s kept his contacts and knows every criminal in London, as well as Bath, and can ferret out information for us faster than the entire Metropolitan Police Department.”

  “How do you know him?”

  “When Driscoll and I decided to start up a gaming club ourselves and Hunt agreed to finance it as a silent partner, we asked around and learned about Nick. We spent a couple of days with him, and he gave us great advice and helped to get our club up and running.”

  “I shall go with you when you see Mr. Smith.” Until this was settled, she had no intention of letting him out of her sight.

  He didn’t need time to answer that request, it seemed, since he immediately agreed. “I don’t want you in London with me in Bath. We’ll take the train and a hackney from the railway station to Smith’s house.”

  She grinned. “You are so sure of his welcome?”

  “Yes. He’s a friendly, open fellow. He owns two hotels so we will stay in one of them.”

  Even though they were traveling to Bath to attempt to keep themselves from being murdered, she was excited by the trip. “I’ve only been in Bath a few times, but it has been years. I’d forgotten how much I like it.”

  The carriage drew up to Hunt’s townhouse. “When will we go?”

  Dante looked at his timepiece. “I believe there is a train to Bath at four-thirty.”

  Her jaw dropped. “You mean to go right away. Now?”

  He opened the door and turned to help her out. “There is no better time than now. I refuse to live under a threat; and getting us both out of London right now is a good idea.”

  “What about the club?”

  He took her arm and moved her forward. “It survived for the past few weeks while we were working on the assignment. It will do just fine with me gone again. Besides, Keniel can take over a lot of my duties like he did before.”

  They walked up the steps to the house, the door opening before they reached the top. They greeted the butler and continued up the stairs to the drawing room.

  “You two were off early today.” Diana spoke softly as she sat on the sofa with the Huntingtons’ pride and joy and heir, Master George Hanover Rose, settled on her lap, sound asleep.

  “We had business with Sir Phillip. Is Hunt around?” Dante asked.

  “Yes. I believe he’s in the library. Have you broken your fast?” She continued to speak in a low voice.

  Lydia nodded. “Yes, but a cup of tea would be wonderful right now.”

  Diana gestured with her head to the bell pull alongside the door and began to rise. “Ring for some. I could use a cup myself. I’m going to put the little one down for his nap.”

  As Lydia moved to the door, Dante strode up to her. “I will be in the library with Hunt.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. “Remember, don’t leave the house.”

  She nodded her consent and he kissed her on the forehead and left.

  Lydia walked around the room, waiting for a footman to appear. She rubbed her hands up and down her arms, trying to warm herself. A foolish endeavor since she was not cold from the air, but from the fear that someone might be out there waiting for the opportunity to kill her and Dante.

  Dante strolled into the library to see Hunt bent over the desk shuffling papers around. “Don’t you employ a man to do that for you? Where is your secretary?”

  Hunt looked up and smiled. He stretched and then leaned back in his oversized chair that had belonged to their father, and most likely the fathers before him for a few generations. “What did Sir Phillip want?”

  Since all three brothers did occasional work for the Crown, they knew about each other’s assignments unless they were told to keep it to themselves as a top priority matter.

  “The German Ambassador is still in London.”

  Hunt frowned. “Why? I thought he would have been sent back to Germany by now.”

  “I thought so, too. It’s been three weeks since he was detained at the theater.”

  “I wonder how long these things take.” Hunt said.

  Dante pulled out the chair in front of his brother’s desk and sat. “That’s not the worst of it.” He paused. “It seems that the two other people involved, the woman who was passing the secrets to the Ambassador and the man in the Home Office she was mistress to and getting the information from, have both turned up dead. Even though the woman was in gaol at the time and the man under house arrest in his own home.”

  Hunt let out a long, low whistle. Then he sat up and stared at him. “What about you and Lydia? Are you in danger?”

  Dante nodded. “Sir Phillip seems to think that’s a possibility. He warned us to be aware of the potential threat.”

  “You will go to my estate in the country. I’ll send two footmen with you.”

  Dante held up his hand. “No. We must get this solved. Sir Phillip’s hands are tied because he can’t reveal his involvement in all this. The Metropolitan Police have deemed them accidents.”

  Hunt stood and paced. “This is unacceptable. Sir Phillip and his secrets got you and Lydia involved in this. He cannot just drop the ball and tell you to be careful. He should be the one investigating.”

  “Not if he is to retain his covert operation.”

  “Blast his covert operation!” Hunt pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger and took a deep breath. “All right. I don’t like it, but I understand. So what is your plan? Hire an investigator?”

  Dante ran his fingers through his hair. “My first thought was Nick Smith.”

  “Ah. The notorious Nick Smith. I thought he gave up all his underground activities when he sold his club?”

  “He did. But he’s maintained his contacts. I still hear about him at times. His name is bandied about occasionally in the Rose Room.”

  Hunt returned to his seat and leaned back, crossing his arms over his chest. “Do you want my carriage? I think it’s more comfortable than yours
for long distance travel.”

  “Thank you, but no. We will be taking the train this afternoon. I want to get Lydia out of London as quickly as possible.”

  Hunt nodded. “Good idea. What can I do to help?”

  Dante stood. “My absence at the club has hurt Driscoll, and now I’ll be gone again. Hopefully only for a day or two. If you could give some assistance there, it would be a huge help.”

  “Done.”

  Hunt and Dante made their way from the library to the drawing room where tea was just being served. Although he was anxious to be on his way, it was a few hours until the train left, so he decided to curb his unease and let his wife enjoy her tea before they needed to pack.

  The four of them chatted for a while, with a definite pall over the group. Apparently Lydia must have told Diana about the meeting with Sir Phillip because she kept looking back and forth between the two of them with concern. “Are you sure it wouldn’t be better to stay here and hire someone to find whoever is behind the two deaths?”

  “I can’t just sit still, Diana. Someone is out there ready to cause harm to Lydia and me. Even if Nick can’t come up with some suggestions as to who might be involved in this, he can certainly recommend someone to act as a guard for my wife.”

  “Me?” Lydia said as she held her teacup close to her mouth. “What about you? Are you invincible?”

  “I’m a man. I can take care of myself.”

  She put her teacup down with a bang. “So was the man from the Home Office, who was in his own home, and he was murdered.”

  “She’s right, you know, Dante,” Diana said. “If someone wants you dead it matters not if you’re a man or a woman.”

  He waved them off. “I am going upstairs to pack for the next few days.” He turned to Lydia. “When you’re finished with your tea, I suggest you do the same.” He checked his timepiece. “The train leaves in three hours and I need to stop at the club first to speak with Driscoll and Keniel.”