The Earl of Morrey

by Lauren Smith

  Adam rolled his shoulders and winced at the tight, scarred skin that pulled at him, but the pain was dull rather than sharp.

  “Avery needs me. If he summoned me back from Scotland, then he has no one else left.” As he spoke, his chest suddenly tightened with panic. The Court of Shadows—something must have happened to them. “May I have use of your fastest horse?”

  “Of course. But—”

  “And me,” Letty said. “Can you have the little black gelding saddled for me?”

  Both lords turned to look down at her.

  “No,” Tyburn said at the same instant that Adam said, “Absolutely not.”

  Letty held up a hand in silence and kept both men from speaking further with an imperious look. “Husband, you would have been dead if not for me and that horse I stole from the Crown and Thistle. And I have as much right to defend my king and country as any of you do.”

  “But what of our child?” Adam argued, hoping to use this tactic to make his wife stay safe a second time.

  “My menses came this morning, so the only life I risk is my own.”

  Adam pulled her into his arms. “And that is already far too precious a thing to risk.”

  She pushed back against him, a fierce scowl of rebellion on her face.“You will not talk to me sweetly and hope to convince me to stay here. If you go, I go. It is that simple.” She escaped his arms and rushed up the stairs.

  Adam, his arms held out empty of her, stood staring after her.

  “As much as she deserves protection, that is a woman who can take care of herself. Perhaps she should go.” Tyburn sounded more thoughtful now.

  “And if we both end up dead?” Adam growled.

  “Then at least ye are together. Trust me, as a man who lost his wife and could not follow her to the land beyond, I would say that surviving without her was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. If not for my sons . . .” Tyburn turned away, not finishing the sentence.

  “Please have our horses readied. I’d better make sure she knows we can’t bring anything with us.”

  Adam headed up to the chamber he and Letty shared. She wasn’t there. A young boy was bent over her trunks.

  “You, lad. Have you seen Lady Morrey?”

  The boy spun around with a very girlish giggle. “Perfect—even you didn’t recognize me.” Letty beamed at him from beneath the brim of her cap.

  “How did you change so quickly?”Adam asked.

  “A woman has to have some secrets, doesn’t she? Come, we have no time to waste.” She took his hand and led him from their bedchamber.

  They were met at the foot of the grand staircase by Angus, Baird, and Tyburn, all dressed for travel.

  “Uncle?”

  His uncle smiled. “Ye didna think ye would be going alone, laddie?”

  “But what if you can’t—?”

  “Keep up? Aye, we can. The horses are ready.”

  Adam followed his uncle and cousins outside. Four tall horses had been saddled, and the fifth horse was shorter than the others—a fierce little black gelding that danced about in anticipation. Letty rushed past Adam to the little horse and wrapped her arms around its neck.

  “She’s going to ride that little creature?” Adam asked Angus as she approached the little black beast.

  “That little creature is the beast who saved yer life. Nearly killed himself outracing those bigger horses. He’s fast. While ye were healing from yer wounds, Baird and I were seeing to him. He has the speed of the devil himself.”

  “I’m glad she’s riding him, then.” Adam walked over to his wife and assisted her into the saddle. “Are you ready?” he asked.

  She nodded, and the serious look upon her face made his last argument for her to stay at Tyburn’s home die upon his lips.

  “Very well,” Adam said as he mounted his horse. He glanced back at his wife, uncle, and cousins.

  “Lead the way, lad!” Tyburn commanded.

  Adam dug his heels into the horse’s flanks. They rode as one toward an uncertain future.

  It took three days to reach London and the Marquess of Rochester’s townhouse. Letty had been there once, shortly after Horatia had married the marquess. She shouldn’t have been surprised that they were to meet there; Lucien was Avery’s older brother, after all. Adam hurried up the steps and knocked on the townhouse’s door. An older butler met them.

  “We’re here to see Lord Rochester.”

  “Ah, yes. Do come in.” The butler stepped back to let everyone inside. “The war council is waiting for you.”

  “War council?” Angus muttered to Baird, who shrugged.

  “’Tis England,” Baird said, as if that explained everything.

  “This way.” The butler led them toward the library.

  Letty and Adam entered first, and saw a group of men all huddled about a table. She recognized the men as they turned to see who had arrived. Lucien, the Marquess of Rochester. Along with Godric, the Duke of Essex; Cedric, Viscount Sheridan; Charles Humphrey, the Earl of Lonsdale; Ashton, Baron Lennox; and Jonathan St. Laurent.

  Relief nearly overwhelmed Letty. These men were known in certain circles as the League of Rogues, and their exploits were quickly becoming the stuff of legends. If there were men able to rival Avery’s spies, it was this group of men. They parted to reveal Avery, whose left arm was in a sling.

  “Welcome to the fight, gentlemen,” Avery said with a wry smile. Then his gaze drifted to Letty. “My lady.” He nodded respectfully at her.

  “I hope you don’t mind, but my uncle Tyburn and his sons, Baird and Angus, insisted on joining me.”

  There were quick greetings before Adam and Letty joined the men around the reading table.

  “Adam, I’ll be brief. Arthur Thistlewood and his men are planning to destroy the House of Lords while they are in session for the king’s speech. We have but a short time to place ourselves in the tunnels below Westminster and stop the gunpowder kegs from being lit.”

  Letty studied the pages of architectural plans laid out on the table and stepped back to allow Tyburn and his sons to see. She noticed Caroline seated by the fireplace, away from the men.

  “Caroline?” She joined her sister-in-law by the fire. Caroline looked away from the flames to stare at Letty. She gasped.

  “Letty? What are you doing here?”

  “I came back with Adam. I couldn’t let him come alone. What about you?”

  Caroline pulled Letty into a chair beside her and then told her everything that had happened at the townhouse in Grosvenor Square.

  “Dead? All of them?”

  “Down to the last man. I fear the sight has left me rattled.” She took Letty’s hand into hers. “These are desperate and dangerous men, Letty. God help us all if they succeed.”

  Letty curled her fingers around Caroline’s and squeezed lightly.

  “But you saved Mr. Russell.”

  She nodded, that distant look back on her face. “And yet we may all die tonight.”

  “Then you should stay here,” Letty said.

  “Are you staying or going with them?” Caroline challenged.

  “I’m going,” Letty admitted.

  “Then so am I.”

  “We must stay together, then.” Letty and Caroline turned to listen to the men as they made their plans.

  “We will need two or three men at each of the corners. I can only guess that is where Thistlewood’s men will set the kegs and charges. We will access the tunnels through subterranean gates. Each man should be prepared to force the lock if they can’t gain entrance, but once you get close to the corners, do not use a pistol. An errant shot could cause the very thing we need to prevent.” Avery looked around at the men close to him. “Most of you are married, and some are fathers. No man will be judged if he chooses to stay behind. There are other ways you can help, should we fail.”

  This pronouncement was met with stony silence.

  Avery cleared his throat. “Very well. The north corner shall be covered
by Essex, Rochester, and Sheridan. South corner, Lonsdale, Angus, and Tyburn. East will be Lennox, St. Laurent, and Baird. West corner will be Adam and myself. Good luck to you all. And God save the king!”

  “God save the king!” the others roared in reply.

  Letty collected a pistol and a slender knife from a nearby table that had been covered with weapons. When she saw Adam tuck a blade into his boot, she did the same with her own. She still wore the trousers and waistcoat of a boy, and she had her hair down tight at the nape of her neck. She could run without the encumbrance of skirts. The last thing she wanted was to be a hinderance to Adam in a moment of crisis.

  They left Lord Rochester’s home, and the assigned groups rode off on horseback.

  Though they would not need to leave the city, the journey seemed to take forever. Letty’s heart pounded as she, Adam, Avery, and Caroline finally reached the place where they could gain access to the tunnels. Westminster was only a short distance from where they stood now, huddled in the growing gloom.

  Letty couldn’t help but think of King George somewhere inside the building, the entire House of Lords patiently waiting for his speech. So many would die if they failed, and anarchy would soon follow. The importance of what she and the others were about to do made her tremble.

  Adam tested the gate that spanned the mouth of the tunnel, which formed a black cavern ahead of them. It seemed to go on foreverbeyond the iron bars of the gate. As Adam eased the gate open, he shared a grim look with Avery.

  “What is it?” Letty whispered.

  “The gate wasn’t locked. Thistlewood’s men are already down there. We must be silent. Everyone, stay close.” Avery lit a small lantern and then nodded to Adam. “I’ll hold the lantern so you can see ahead of you.”

  Adam nodded and headed into the darkness first, a pistol in one hand and a knife in the other. Avery followed behind him, then Letty and Caroline.

  It was an eerie thing to descend into darkness with only a weak lantern to light their way. Water trickled along the floor of the tunnel as they moved up an incline deep into the bowels below Westminster Palace. The sound of water upon stone somewhere nearby echoed so loudly that it gave Letty a headache.

  Letty looked back frequently to check on Caroline behind her. Her sister-in-law was pale and silent, her skin almost luminous in the dim light. Caroline was somehow even more silent than the rest of them. Something was weighing upon her mind, and as much as Letty wished to speak with her about it, she dared not.

  Adam began to move more quickly, and the rest of them followed.

  “We can’t be far now,” Avery whispered as they reached the fourth crossroads of tunnels. Suddenly a faint sound came to them down the tunnels from the north. Shots, a cry, then silence.

  “Oh God,” Letty breathed. “It’s started. Should we go and—?”

  “We can’t stop,” Avery said. “We must trust in the others. They are on their own for a time. We must ensure that Thistlewood’s men are stopped at our corner.”

  The eerie sounds of distant fighting began again. They continued through the dark tunnel, like a bad dream. After another minute, light appeared ahead from a distant lantern. Avery set his lantern down so that they might creep up on whoever was lurking in the dark.

  “Are you ready?” Avery asked Adam so quietly that Letty almost didn’t hear him. As the light ahead grew brighter, Letty saw her husband’s silhouette more clearly. He was half shadow, half man, power radiating from him. It was as if the darkness he held inside him had been made manifest, the part of him she had glimpsed the night he had saved her and Lady Edwards.

  Three men were pushing several kegs close together. There were fuses at the front of the grouping of the kegs, and one man was tying the bundle of fuses together to make it easier to light the batch all at once. It seemed the men hadn’t heard the sounds they had heard earlier, for they did not seem concerned that their plot had been discovered.

  Avery shifted, putting himself directly in front of Letty and Caroline, blocking the men ahead from view. Letty stayed behind him, but she removed the knife from her boot and waited. She would do whatever was necessary.

  Adam stilled, his breath so slow that he inhaled only five times in a single minute. He needed to be invisible.

  I am mist. I am moonlight. I am the smoke of an extinguished candle. I am the shadow you do not see, but only feel . . .

  For now, only Adam would step into the light, while the others stayed safe in the dark behind him.

  The three men were busy arranging the fuses around the kegs and didn’t see him as he stepped into their circle. Adam tossed his pistol into the air and caught it by the barrel as he rushed toward them. The first man spun to face Adam, and he felled him with a blow from the butt of his pistol, then swiped at the second man with his blade. The third man dove at him, and they crashed against the tunnel wall. Adam growled and spun them around so he had the other man pinned. The man landed a punch on Adam’s jaw, but Adam rammed his own fist into the man’s gut,causing him to double over.

  Someone threw an arm around Adam’s neck, pulling him back, choking him. Adam shoved back hard, feeling the satisfying crunch of the assailant’s ribs as they collided with the tunnel wall.

  Avery appeared in his line of vision, a knife in his uninjured hand as he attacked one of the other men. Letty and Caroline ducked around the brawling figures, and Adam glimpsed them trying to undo the fuses around the kegs. Adam took down another of the men by driving his blade through the man’s chest. The man crumpled at his feet when he pulled it out.

  “Are you all right, Morrey?” Avery asked. He stood with one hand clutching his splinted shoulder. The other men they had been fighting were dead.

  Adam nodded and wiped his blade clean.

  Avery glanced back toward the dark tunnels. “Can you handle things here? I need to check on the others.”

  “We have it handled.”

  Avery vanished into the shadows, and then Adam turned to his sister and Letty, who were halfway done removing the fuses from the kegs.

  “I can finish that.” Adam tried to shoulder the ladies away from the dangerous explosives. “Why don’t you both go back the way we came? It’s a straight path to the outside gate.”

  “Actually, I’d rather go after Avery,” Caroline said.

  “And I wish to stay with you,” Letty informed him.

  Adam cupped Letty’s face and stole a quick kiss as he held her close, but he wanted her and his sister as far away as possible from these blasted tunnels.

  He turned to speak to Caroline, only to find the tunnel empty. His sister had gone after Avery.

  “Blast and hell.”

  “She’ll be fine, Adam. Avery will protect her.” Letty declared this with such confidence that he almost believed her.

  “Then I will escort you back to the gate.”

  Letty hesitated. “Fine, but only after we have dealt with the fuses—” She stopped talking, her face suddenly pale as she apparently saw something behind Adam.

  The hairs on the back of Adam’s neck rose as he felt something in the dark tunnel behind him.

  “It’s been a long time, old friend,” the voice said.

  That voice. Adam turned, careful to keep his movements slow. The faint light of the lantern beside the kegs illuminated the form of a dead man come back to life. Adam’s heart stuttered.

  “J—John?” He gazed into his friend’s face. “It’s . . . it’s not possible.”

  For a moment he thought he saw some kind of empathy upon the man’s face, but it was soon replaced with a dark cunning that Adam had never seen before.

  “And yet, here I am.” John held a pistol in his hand.

  “You’re the one behind this? You’re the one Thistlewood was meeting?” Adam guessed.

  “I am,” the man said.

  John stared at Adam with an intensity that made Adam feel sick. This wasn’t his friend—this was someone wearing John’s face.

  “He and hi
s men simply needed a push to do what needed to be done.”

  “For two years I’vemourned you, John. You were a brother to me. And now you do this?” Adam could barely think past the betrayal he felt at this moment. John isalive!But John was the man trying to destroy England’s government. It was something not even his worst nightmares could’ve conjured up. Thank God Caroline had already left. She couldn’t have borne this.

  “You spent years avenging your own demons, Adam.” There was pain layered in the fury of John’s reply. “I spent years spying upon men who would not have done any real harm, and then I had to betray them. Innocent men died. Far too many of them.”

  “You think this is the answer? Burn it all down?” Adam kept Letty behind him and out of John’s direct line of fire, given that he still held a pistol aimed at them.

  “You don’t think there are people ready to propose a better way? We could have a new government, a better one. One that serves the people instead of the other way around.”

  “They’d never get the chance. You always understood human nature better than anyone. There would be nothing but anarchy left in its place.”

  “Better anarchy than tyranny.”

  “You know that isn’t true. Anarchy hurts those with the least power. The mobs who take to the streets will only truly hurt the helpless: the children, the women, the people whose lives depend on some regularity and safety. The shopkeepers who run their businesses that feed and clothe others—those are the ones you would hurt. You would see everything burned to punish those above you?”

  “Those same men keep all men down simply because they were not born with the right name, or because they don’t have enough money to deserve their notice. They deserve to be punished.”

  “You are a fool if you think what you’re doing will solve anything.” Rage built inside Adam like a gathering storm, with the wind drawing up black clouds into a violence that, once unleashed, would wreck all in its path. How dare John betray him, his king, and his country. Adam’s hands curled into fists. He still held his knife, but it was no use against the pistol.

  “I joined the Home Office to avenge you, John—to find your killers. Everything I did was for a lie.”