Lady Cecily and the Mysterious Mr. Gray

by Janice Preston

  ‘Oh, I can well believe that.’ Cecily marched across the room to the window, then twisted around to face her brothers. ‘He will take the opportunity to collude with Thetford so they can be rid of Zach once and for all.’

  ‘Cecily—’ Vernon came to her, put his arms around her and hugged her to him. ‘I know you’re reluctant to believe the worst of him, but he was seen.’

  Cecily shrugged him away. ‘Seen by one man only—a man who has reason to hate him.’ She again looked from Vernon to Leo and back again. ‘He knows that Zach is the reason I refused his offer and he sees in this a convenient way of removing Zach as a rival.’

  ‘But...Cecy...you and Kilburn...’ Vernon sighed and took her hand. ‘It was no love match, on either side. He is not a spurned lover. Why would he go to such lengths?’

  ‘He is deep in debt and he needs a wife with a large dowry. Ask Leo. Plus his pride is hurt. I saw a side of him that frightened me at your party. And I know what cruelty he is capable of.’

  ‘Frightened you?’ Leo growled. ‘If he laid a finger on you—’

  ‘He did not, but he would have done if Daniel hadn’t intervened. Suffice it to say that what I have since discovered is enough to destroy any lingering doubts I might have possessed. Tell me—’ there was no time to be distracted by Kilburn and his nastiness ‘—where did the attack take place?’

  ‘You do not need the gory details.’

  Cecily crossed her arms. ‘I wish to know.’

  Leo held her gaze for several moments, then nodded. ‘Oh, very well. Thetford was attacked in Jermyn Street after leaving his club but, as fortune would have it, Kilburn left soon afterwards and disturbed the attacker.’

  Jermyn Street? Cecily’s certainty in Zach’s innocence suffered a wobble. This time it was Leo who put his arm around her.

  ‘Cecy—my dear—I know you wish to champion the man, but Graystoke has rooms in Jermyn Street. The evidence is damning and the location itself points to a different motive than mere robbery. For such an attack to take place in such a respectable neighbourhood—’

  Again, Cecily shrugged away the comfort of a brother even though a weak part of her longed to allow him to hold her. Support her. Protect her, as he had done her entire life. She must stand alone and she needed to see their faces in this discussion, not allow them to hug her and soothe her and take control. It was what they had always done—what she had allowed them to do. No longer.

  ‘Lord Stanton suffered a similar attack at the start of the year, did he not? In Sackville Street, as I recall. It is not unprecedented.’

  ‘That is different. Do you still protect Graystoke, even after this?’

  Leo looked at her as though she were a stranger. She hated the pain she could see in his eyes. Hated it. But it could not be helped.

  ‘I will never believe Zach to be capable of such a vicious, cowardly attack. He is gentle and loving—’

  Her voice choked into silence, remembering their laughter as she taught him to waltz and she blinked away a sudden welling of hot tears. She thought of his tenderness as he made love to her—

  Her breath hitched. Thetford’s club? Had he been out all night? It was as though a bank of cloud parted to allow a beam of light to penetrate the turbulence of her thoughts. She frowned. ‘When did the attack take place, Leo?’

  ‘The night before last. In the early hours of the morning. Why?’

  ‘Did Lord Kilburn say the exact time?’

  ‘He said he left White’s around four, not five minutes after Thetford.’

  Four? She frowned. Blair’s account had suggested the attack had taken place just before Zach’s arrest.

  Just after six—blood still on ’is hands—

  Relief—spiced with self-recrimination—flooded her, easing the vice that had seized her chest ever since Kilburn had told her the news. Why had she not thought to establish the exact time of the attack?

  ‘Then Zach is innocent,’ she said.

  ‘You can be so sure?’

  ‘Yes.’ It was time to be brave like never before. She sucked in a shaky breath. ‘I was with him.’

  ‘I beg your pardon?’

  Vernon’s growl sounded somewhere to her right. She could see by both brothers’ expressions that they knew precisely what she meant and she could also see neither of them were about to make this easy for her. And, after all, why should they? She was their little sister still, even though she was thirty years of age. They—Leo in particular—had spent their lives taking care of her.

  Protecting her.

  But they could not protect her from the scandal she was about to unleash and she did not expect them to. It broke her heart, but her choice was for love. For Zach. And she could only hope, in time, her family would come to forgive her.

  She walked across the room to stare unseeingly out of the window. It took all her courage to say her next words and she could not bear to see desolation—or, worse, disgust—on her brothers’ faces as she said them.

  ‘I was with him. All night. Until dawn.’

  ‘You were here. You went to bed.’

  ‘I went out. Later. At half past one.’

  ‘Kilburn confirmed Graystoke as the attacker.’ Leo’s voice was right behind her. ‘It was he who raised the alarm.’

  She spun around and met his steely eyes.

  ‘He lies. Zach was with me.’

  Leo grabbed her shoulders, his silver gaze boring into her. ‘Are you lying for him? Do not act in haste and destroy your reputation unless this is the truth. You must know that bearing false witness is a crime.’

  ‘I do not lie. I was with him. The night porter in Jermyn Street saw me, although I was veiled, and one of our footmen saw me return home. I begged him not to tell you. I love Zach, Leo. I will not stand by and see him falsely accused simply to protect my reputation. If people choose to think the worst of me, and to shun me, then that is up to them.’ She hauled in a deep breath. ‘And if you—if our family—choose to disown me, then th-that is up t-to y-you.’

  Her vision blurred and she stared at the floor, concentrating on the floral pattern of the carpet. She inhaled again and willed her voice to sound strong. Steadfast. As she must be from now on.

  ‘I shall go and tell the authorities,’ she said. She was on her own. For the first time in her life, she would not have her family—Leo—at her back. She swallowed her fear and blinked away her tears before looking up at Leo again. ‘Th-they will have to release him then.’

  Leo paced the room, his brows lowered. ‘It may not be as simple as that.’

  ‘But why should it not be? They must listen to the truth.’

  ‘Kilburn has accused Graystoke direct and he has a lawyer standing by so as soon as Thetford regains consciousness he can swear a deposition against Graystoke. He will then be committed for trial. It will be your word against theirs.’

  Anger, peppered with fear, bubbled behind Cecily’s breastbone. ‘I am a lady. The daughter of a duke. My word is true.’

  ‘And Thetford and Kilburn are peers of the realm. Their words are—should also be—true. Your words will be twisted, my dearest sister. Once someone—anyone—calls your integrity into doubt—’

  ‘My integrity? My behaviour and conduct has been beyond reproach my entire life. Why should anyone now doubt me?’

  ‘By the simple fact of your confession that you were with Graystoke that night, in his room. In his bed. They will say if a lady can lower herself so very much, how can her word be relied upon? And if Thetford decides to prosecute Graystoke, you would be called to repeat what you have said in open court. You will be depicted in every newssheet as a fallen woman, and will become an object of scorn for the caricaturists to poke fun at. Are you truly prepared for all that?’

  She felt as though she’d been kicked in the stomach, knowing he was right. Her mind raced. She must find another way, but she could not think straight while she was here with them. She headed for the door. Vernon reached it before her and blocked
her way.

  ‘Where are you going?’

  She raised her chin. ‘I am going to my bedchamber to think about what you have said,’ she said haughtily.

  She saw Vernon look at Leo and give an infinitesimal shrug. Then he stood aside.

  ‘Cecily.’ She looked back at Leo and raised her brows. ‘Do not go out without informing one of us first, if you please.’

  How dare he? She had never lied to him, but she had come this far and she did not see why she must be constricted by petty notions of honesty when a man’s life was at stake. She would do what she must, irrespective of any promise Leo might coax from her. She hid her hand in the folds of her gown and crossed her fingers as she spoke the lie.

  ‘Very well.’

  She left the room, anger and fear churning away inside her.

  * * *

  Outside Leo’s study, Cecily paused, thoughts chasing around inside her head. She saw now the way forward. She could only hope an appeal to Thetford in person might work. If not, then she would take the stand in court, regardless of the consequences. With determined steps, she headed for the parlour and penned a hasty note to Daniel Markham. She would wait no longer. She left the parlour and handed the note to Grantham.

  ‘Have a footman deliver this to Mr Markham at Lord Vernon’s house, please, Grantham, and tell him he is to hand it to Mr Markham in person. If Mr Markham is gone out, then he is to enquire after his direction and follow him. Any answer is to be brought directly to me.’

  ‘Yes, milady.’

  ‘Thank you. And please ask Anna to attend me in my bedchamber.’

  Grantham bowed. ‘Yes, milady.’

  * * *

  When Anna entered her room, Cecily wasted no time.

  ‘I should like you to accompany me to Lord Thetford’s house, Anna. But I need you to understand—what I am about to do might very well bring disgrace upon me.’

  Anna’s face sagged. ‘But milady...’ Fear coloured her voice.

  Cecily raised her hand. ‘No. Say nothing yet. Allow me to finish. If you should prefer not to continue to work for a-a fallen woman—then I shall understand. Our future—whatever happens—will not be within the Duke’s household and, if we are unable to prove Mr Graystoke’s innocence, then I might find myself living out a life of genteel obscurity after all. The very situation I have been at such pains to avoid. There will always be a place for you within my household, but I understand if you prefer to remain with his Grace. All I ask is that you do not reveal this conversation to him.’

  The maid’s mouth set in a stubborn line. ‘I am with you, milady.’

  A warm glow suffused Cecily at Anna’s words. She had the feeling she would need all the friends she could get.

  ‘Thank you, Anna. I am more grateful than you can know. We shall ready ourselves to go out and then we must wait for a response from Mr Markham.’

  * * *

  Time had never passed so slowly. Every time a door closed or they heard a footstep in the passage outside, they both jumped. Finally, though, as the clock struck noon, a note was brought to Cecily’s door. Daniel awaited her in a hackney coach around the corner in South Audley Street. Cecily tied her bonnet strings under her chin, picked up her reticule and looked at Anna.

  ‘The back stairs, I think, Anna. Will you lead the way, please, and alert me should any of the family be about?’

  Inside five minutes, Cecily and Anna were sitting in the hackney on their way to Curzon Street and Cecily told Daniel of the place and time of Zach’s arrest.

  He folded his arms across his chest as he listened to Cecily’s story, his lips thinning in disapproval as she—with a hot blush—skated over how she could now prove that Zach was innocent. She could not bring herself to boldly admit her fall from grace to this man she barely knew.

  And yet I shall have to find the courage to confess it—out loud—to Thetford and Kilburn. And, possibly, in court.

  ‘I expect Thea to get herself embroiled in such escapades,’ Daniel grumbled, once Cecily fell silent, ‘but I thought you to be a respectable lady.’

  Cecily sighed. ‘As did I.’ And he—and no doubt the entire haut ton—would soon know how unrespectable and imperfect this particular lady actually was. ‘But I shall do whatever is needed to save Zach from this injustice and my best hope is to throw myself upon Lord Thetford’s mercy.’

  Daniel reached across the carriage and squeezed her hand. ‘Our best hope,’ he said. ‘I shall do my dam—my utmost to help my friend.’

  The first challenge was gaining entry to Lord Thetford’s house. The butler looked down his nose at Daniel, who had warned Cecily to let him do the talking and not to draw attention to herself. She had made him no promises. She would do what she deemed necessary—no longer would she be the perfect lady waiting in the background for the men to organise matters and to dictate her life.

  The butler’s sniff of disdain was audible. ‘His lordship,’ he intoned, ‘is indisposed.’

  The front door started to close. Daniel put his booted foot in the opening and then his shoulder to the door itself. One shove sent the butler stumbling back.

  Daniel bowed. ‘After you, my lady.’

  Cecily swept past the butler, whose eyes widened and jaw dropped as he took in both her appearance and that of Anna, who dutifully followed her. Cecily had anticipated resistance from Thetford’s staff and had dressed accordingly—in her very latest promenade dress of sea-green jaconet muslin and matching high-crowned bonnet—to emphasise her wealth and her status. That she was accompanied by her maid only added to her consequence.

  ‘Milady! Sir!’ The butler, all dignity discarded, scurried to block the foot of the stairs. ‘You cannot—I have orders—’ He again scanned Cecily as though he could not believe his eyes. ‘It is unseemly,’ he added in desperation. ‘His lordship is in bed.’

  Daniel bypassed Cecily and slung a matey arm around the butler’s shoulders. ‘What is your name, my good man?’

  Cecily bit back her smile as Daniel eased the man away from his self-appointed sentry duty.

  ‘C-Catchpole, sir.’

  ‘Then, Catchpole, be a good fellow and occupy yourself elsewhere. We mean your master no harm, but we shall speak to him. Whether or not you nurse a bloodied nose while we do so is entirely your choice.’

  He released Catchpole and smiled at him. ‘And before you consider summoning help, just remember—’ He put his mouth close to the butler’s ear and whispered a few words that caused the man to blanch.

  Catchpole visibly swallowed, and then said, ‘S-second floor, first door on your left.’

  Daniel slapped his back, eliciting a muffled yelp from Catchpole as he stumbled under the weight of it. Cecily started up the stairs. Daniel overtook her and reached Thetford’s bedchamber door before she did. It was firmly closed and no sounds could be heard from within.

  ‘Are you certain about this, my lady?’

  ‘Yes. I am absolutely certain. Please, allow me to do the talking. Just be there if I need you.’

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Daniel rapped on the door and entered Thetford’s bedchamber and Cecily followed, with Anna on her heels. Contrary to her expectations, Thetford was sitting up in bed, his arms folded across his chest. A bandage around his head bore witness to his injury, but he did not give the appearance of a man at death’s door. Kilburn stood by the unlit fireplace and another man, clutching a roll of parchment, hovered near the window.

  ‘What the devil—?’ Kilburn strode across the room to confront Daniel. ‘Who permitted you entry, sir?’ He then glared at Cecily. ‘And what are you about, visiting a man in his bedchamber. Have you no care for your reputation, madam?’

  ‘Clearly not. And I am here because I wish to speak with Lord Thetford.’ She brushed past Kilburn and addressed Zach’s brother. ‘I was disturbed to hear of the attack upon you, sir, but I am glad to find you less gravely injured than I feared.’

  ‘Thank you.’ Thetford’s chest rose as h
e drew in a breath and he raised his hands to massage his temples. ‘You might as well give this up, Kilburn. If I wouldn’t sign that deposition before, I most certainly will not sign it now.’

  ‘Does the deposition concern your brother?’ Cecily glanced at the stranger by the window. He had the look of a lawyer. ‘He did not attack you, sir, no matter what you believe you saw.’

  ‘I saw him—’

  Cecily rounded on Kilburn. ‘He. Is. Not. Guilty.’

  ‘Spare your pleas, Lady Cecily.’ Kilburn’s gaze slid past her to the man in the bed and she read the silent warning in their grey depths. ‘I saw him with my own eyes. I can prosecute him myself. I don’t need you, Thetford.’

  ‘You lie, sir!’ She hauled in a deep breath. ‘I can prove it.’

  ‘Prove it?’ Kilburn gripped her upper arms, shaking her. ‘How?’

  ‘I was with him,’ she spat, glaring up into his face. ‘At the time you say you saw him attack his brother. You, sir, are a liar!’

  He thrust her from him. ‘Better than a whore, madam.’

  From the corner of her eye she saw Daniel start towards them, but it was Thetford’s voice that slashed through the air like a whip.

  ‘Enough!’

  Kilburn stared at his friend, his jaw slack. Daniel backed away again, joining Anna and the third man.

  ‘I have had enough, Kilburn.’ Thetford’s voice was weary. He waved a dismissive hand. ‘Leave. Take your lawyer friend with you. I may not be overjoyed by my half-brother’s presence in Town, but that does not mean I am willing to perjure myself or to see him hang. Get out!’

  Kilburn ignored him. His eyes clung to Cecily. ‘Marry me, Cecily. I am willing to overlook your scandalous behaviour. No man could be fairer than that. Say yes and I shall save Graystoke. Otherwise—’

  ‘Otherwise,’ interjected a bored voice, ‘you will be exposed as the liar you undoubtedly are.’