by Platt, Meara
Honey shook her head and gave a wistful laugh. “You come prepared, don’t you? I like that. When they return, will you introduce us to the runners? We ought to know their faces, so we don’t mistake them for Runyon’s scoundrels and accidentally shoot them.”
“I will.” He took Mrs. Wynne’s hand and bowed over it. “I know I am asking much of you and your clerks, but please go on about your business as though we were never here. If pressed, stall as long as you can before letting on to Mr. Farthingale or Mr. Ewell that we were ever in the shop.”
“Yes, my lord,” she said, blushing.
Finn was not of the nobility, but none of them bothered to correct her mistake. Finn was noble in Belle’s eyes. There was no one finer than him.
Belle glanced around the shop, relieved to see nothing had changed up front. But what of the back rooms? “May we stay a little while longer?”
Now that they were here, she wanted to show Finn her laboratory and needed to make certain this Runyon character had not tampered with any of her fragrances.
“I suppose it’s all right. Whatever harm has already been done. But be quick, Belle. I don’t want us here if Runyon returns. He won’t come alone, and he’ll be better armed.”
While Belle entered her workshop with Finn, her sister and Joshua went into their father’s office with Mrs. Wynne to review the daily accounts.
Belle hadn’t been in the back room in several months, not since she and Honey had been sent to London to find themselves husbands. But no one would have touched her bottles or her notes. The staff had strict orders not to come in here or move anything around.
Upon closer inspection, Belle breathed a sigh of relief. The bottles were all in order, and only a couple of them looked as though they had been tampered with. She could tell from the lack of dust settled on those few bottles.
She pried open the three bottles that appeared to have been touched and inhaled the scent contained within. “They’ve been opened but not damaged.”
“Let me smell them,” Finn said, obviously curious. “Mmm, nice.”
Belle smiled at him, liking his earnest curiosity. “Can you guess what’s in them?”
Finn laughed. “No, not a clue. You’re the expert. But they do smell nice. Just like you. What scent are you wearing today?” Since he was standing slightly behind her, he merely leaned forward, took a deep breath, and nuzzled her neck. “Oh, this one’s nice. Belle, I like this one very much.”
His lips were now on her neck, and the touch of them felt exquisite. She closed her eyes and leaned back as he circled his arms around her, continuing to nuzzle away.
“Really, Belle. Lord, have mercy.” He moved to the other side of her neck. “I’m going to eat you up, you smell so good. What is that scent?”
Laughing, she twisted slightly in his arms to glance up at him. “You’re jesting, aren’t you? Are you flirting with me?”
He appeared confused. “No. The Book of Love had an entire chapter on scent. It’s one of the senses. Remember what we read first? To arouse a man’s senses in a favorable way. So, are you going to tell me what scent you’re wearing, or will we be here forever while I try to guess? Needless to say, I’m favorably aroused.”
“You are?” She laughed again. “Well, thank you. But it’s just me, Finn. No scent. Just my body. Well, I suppose I did use an oatmeal soap to wash this morning.”
He paused in mid-nuzzle and turned her around to face him. “Hen’s teeth. You’re serious?”
She nodded. “What’s wrong with you?”
He grinned and wouldn’t stop grinning at her.
She rolled her eyes. “Honestly, Finn. What is so funny?”
“Not funny at all. Quite alarming, actually. But in a very pleasant way. The scent of you, Belle. I just experienced the scent of love.”
“The scent of love?” She rolled her eyes. “Oh, for pity’s sake.”
“I’m serious. This is what the book says, that appealing to my senses is what matters for us to form our bonds of affection. You don’t have to be beautiful to others, only to me. Your voice or appearance doesn’t have to enchant others, only me. Others do not have to find your scent intoxicating.”
“Only you do?”
“Yes, the only thing that matters is what I think of you. Obviously, the same for you. My scent, my looks. My voice. Do I make you swoon, Belle?” His smile turned devastatingly tender. “You know how I feel about you.”
Yes, he had her in raptures.
He had her swooning and her heart in mad, wild flutters. “Stop distracting me, and let’s have a look at my notes. I think someone’s tried to read through them. Not that it would have done a thief or spy any good. I write my notes in a code that only Honey and I are able to decipher.”
Finn’s eyes rounded in surprise. “Well done, Belle. I’m impressed.”
“Our business is cutthroat. I couldn’t risk competitors getting their hands on my formulas. But I never expected the danger to come from within. I’m especially glad Mr. Runyon could not make sense of my code.”
Finn’s smile faded. “It’s good for your business, but not for you. This is why his employer needs you. He wants those formulas.”
She regarded him, appalled. “I’ll never give them up!”
He took her by the shoulders and turned her to face him once more. “And if he threatens harm to someone you love? Honey or your parents?”
She gasped. “Oh, Finn. Do you think he’d dare?” But she knew the answer and responded to her own question. “Of course, he would. We simply must put a stop to his plans.”
“We will, love.” He kissed her lightly on the lips. “Braydens were born for this.”
“Protecting the weak and helpless?”
“Belle, you aren’t weak. You are brilliant. Just look at all you’ve achieved. As for helpless, I’m not sure about that either. I’ve heard stories about John and Sophie’s daughters. How Lily outsmarted her abductors, and Daffodil saved the Duke of Edgeware. How did she not dislocate her shoulder shooting off an elephant gun? All of them, including Daisy, Laurel, and Rose, showed outstanding bravery. And need I say that your cousin Violet saved my life?”
Her eyes widened as she stared at his shoulder, at the spot he’d been wounded when Violet’s so-called friends attempted to steal the donations from her charity recital and shot Finn when he tried to stop them. “Oh, Finn! This just proves how dangerous loving a Farthingale can be!”
He caressed her cheek. “Life is dangerous. No one knows what the future will hold. But what I do know is that the Farthingale women are as valiant as any decorated war hero. I think you are no different from the other women in your family. If put to the test, you’ll use your wits to prevail. Only, I hope you are never put in that position.”
“Did you call me love?”
“About five minutes ago. I didn’t think you’d noticed.” He laughingly groaned. “Is this all you got from my pretty speech?”
“No, I heard it all.” She smiled at him. “Finn, I—”
Her declaration was interrupted when Honey and Joshua rushed in. “Uncle Jacob just walked into the shop. Quick! He can’t find us here. Let’s slip out the back way.”
Finn took hold of her hand as they kept low and did not stop running until they’d turned the corner and were safely out of sight of the shop.
Finn immediately drew Belle into his arms. “Are you all right?”
Since she was not out of breath in any dangerous way, she hastened to assure him. “I’m fine. But thirsty. Let’s discuss what we’ve found out over tea and cakes.”
She eased out of his embrace with great reluctance, and the four of them walked briskly down the High Street, turning off onto a quaint side street near Merton College where the Ramsford Tea Shop was located. The place was not crowded yet, so they chose a corner table to lend them some privacy, and after ordering lemon cakes and tea, they settled down to business.
Honey spoke first. “Yesterday’s receipts were quite go
od, Belle. The perfume shop turns a handsome profit, just as it has steadily done these past few years. The receipts from our other shops are delivered there at the end of each day. We’ve checked those as well.”
“They’re quite healthy,” Joshua said.
Honey nodded in agreement. “Even if Father shared the earnings with Uncle Jacob—and now that horrid Mr. Runyan or whoever he works for—he should not be in financial distress. There must be something more going on.”
“They’ve gone through all my formulas,” Belle said, taking her turn to report her findings. “It is obvious they haven’t managed to decipher them yet. The fragrances are untouched, save for a few, but they’ve not been tampered with.”
Joshua set down his teacup. “Decipher them? Have you put your formulas in a special code?”
Belle nodded. “Only Honey and I know the key to solving it.”
His eyes brightened. “Obviously, you’re good at creating ciphers if no one has been able to figure yours out after an entire summer. But can you solve one you haven’t created?”
Belle glanced at her sister before turning back to Joshua. “I think so. We all can. That is, me and my sister and our cousins. You’ll meet Holly and her sisters later today. This is how we amused ourselves as children, by creating codes and then competing against each other to solve them.”
Joshua was obviously intrigued. “Here’s a riddle for you, and let’s see if you can guess the answer. What word contains three double letters all in a row?”
Belle turned to her sister. “Do you know it, Honey?”
She nodded. “How about you?”
Belle nodded. “Let’s give him the answer together. On the count of three. One…two…three.”
“Bookkeeper,” they both said in the same breath.
Joshua’s eyes widened. “Well, I’ll be damned. Yes, that’s it.”
Finn laughed. “Looks like the army’s just found itself some new code breakers.”
His brother nodded. “I’ll keep you Farthingales in mind next time the matter comes up. How are you at languages?”
Belle swallowed her bite of lemon cake. “Only Latin, French, and Italian. But may we get back to the matter of who is stealing from our family business? I expect it is Runyon’s employer, of course. Discovering his identity won’t be too difficult now that Runyon has probably led your men straight to him.”
Honey took a sip of her tea and nursed the cup in her hands. “And we know he’s taken over Uncle Jacob’s share of the business, no doubt to settle a gambling debt. It’s Father’s share that has me puzzled. It is obvious our father is paying this man out of his share as well. But why?”
Belle had just eaten the last of her cake, quickly swallowing it in order to continue her sister’s musings. “Our father is not a gambler.”
Finn regarded her thoughtfully. “Perhaps your uncle is still deep in the hole and has not paid off his vowels to Runyon’s employer. Or…is it possible he is holding a secret over your father?”
Belle shook her head vehemently. “No, what secret can he possibly have? He’s a happily married family man. How can you suggest such a thing?”
“I’m just thinking aloud, not making any accusations. He keeps his important papers in the locked drawers of his desk. The answer is likely hidden in there. Let’s make it a priority. We’ll search his desk thoroughly tonight, before he has the chance to move those records to another hiding place or destroy them.”
The others nodded.
“Joshua and I will sneak down there after midnight, once we’re certain everyone’s asleep.”
“Honey and I will join you. We ought to be the ones sorting through his papers while you men stand guard.”
Finn did not like the idea. “Four of us, Belle? We may as well invite a herd of elephants to join us. We’ll never make it downstairs quietly. Leave it to my brother and me. Isn’t this what you invited us here to do?”
She nodded. “But, I did not mean for Honey and me to sit back and do nothing.”
“You can help by keeping everyone distracted and away from the study while we’re searching. I’m sure they’ll all be asleep, but no one will suspect if you and Honey watch the hall and delay anyone who gets too close.”
“What about your Bow Street runners? Will they come to the house? Father will know we’re on to him if they show up on our doorstep.”
“They won’t. Their duty is to keep watch and follow you whenever you leave the house.”
“How do you communicate with them?” Belle was curious to know how they provided information to Finn.
Joshua leaned forward to address them quietly when a party of students entered and sat at the table next to them. “Finn and I will meet our friends right after supper. It won’t take long to exchange what we’ve learned and formulate new plans. We’ll only be gone an hour.”
“In the meantime, both of you stay with your family. Don’t go off by yourselves for any reason. If you are being watched by Runyon, you’ll be safest remaining together and in the company of others. Who else besides your Yorkshire cousins will be arriving today?”
“Some friends of my parents,” Belle said. “But this assumes they’ve made good time from Cornwall. It isn’t safe to travel after dark, and they’ll need to rest their horses. They might stop at an inn for the evening and arrive first thing in the morning. More guests will arrive tomorrow for our garden party, but most of them are local and won’t be staying overnight.”
Finn pursed his lips. “Let’s hope their friends don’t make it here this evening. The fewer people wandering the halls, the better.”
Belle finished the last of her tea just as the proprietor advised them their carriage had arrived. She was about to rise when struck by an unpleasant notion. “Do you think Runyon will be invited?”
Honey stared at her. “Oh, goodness. I hope not. He’s a horrid man and a lout. If he does show up, then it will prove he has a tight hold on the business.”
“He won’t be invited,” Finn muttered. “He’d stick out like a sore thumb. But his employer won’t be so obvious to recognize. That’s who we ought to be looking out for. He’s the real danger. He’s the one with the stranglehold on your parents.”
Belle’s heart skipped a beat, for the problem was so much worse than she had ever considered. Finn had warned of this. He’d sensed the greater danger all along. Why couldn’t it have been simple, merely a matter of an employee skimming off the top? She was truly worried, more than she’d ever been in her life. She gazed at Finn. “What dark secret does this man hold over my family?”
Chapter Ten
Finn felt the heat of the afternoon sun on his shoulders as he stood on the front steps of Belle’s home, his arms folded across his chest, watching Belle and her sister greet their cousins who had just arrived from Yorkshire. Joshua stood beside him, his arms also crossed over his chest, so they gave the appearance of matching bookends.
Perhaps they were a little more frightening than mere bookends, more like sentinels guarding the entrance to a forbidden city. “I wonder if they’re as pretty as Belle and Honey,” Joshua muttered. “Who can tell with those bloody garish bonnets they’re wearing? Gad, just listen to them. They’re all chattering at once. Can they even hear what the others are saying?”
Finn chuckled. “Yes, they seem capable of carrying on several conversations at once. Men tend to think in a straight line. I say this, and you respond with that. Women can follow several threads at the same time. And they also have the ability to know who you’re referring to with merely the use of pronouns. He said. She said. We don’t have a clue who he or she is, but they know and get it right every time.”
Joshua shook his head and laughed.
Finn pressed on, for Joshua was the most serious of his brothers and rarely laughed. “Not only that, they can follow bloodlines with ease. My mother’s brother’s wife’s uncle. My butcher’s mother’s neighbor’s grandson. We’re lost after the first connection, but these women get
the entire chain right every time.”
Joshua rolled his eyes. “Bollocks, you’ve been reading that stupid book, haven’t you? And now you’ve gone and fallen in love with Belle. It’s turned you soft in the head.”
“Just wait until it’s your turn.”
“Hah! It won’t ever be,” Joshua insisted. “I’m too careful for that. No woman will ever use that book to cast her spell on me.”
Finn shrugged. “Fine, be that way. For the record, I fell in love with Belle before I ever read the book.”
“But she had just been given that book by Violet. Within the hour, Belle had cut you down at the knees, toppled you like a giant oak.” He made the sound of a saw slicing through tree bark—ee-ew, ee-ew—and followed it with the sound of a crash.
“Josh, you’re an arse.”
He arched an eyebrow. “I love you, too. Even though you’re a monumental bull’s pizzle.”
The breeze had calmed, as it often did at this time of the day, offering no respite from the unrelenting sun. The air was laden with moisture, although there was no hint of rain on the horizon. However badly Belle and Honey felt about the trouble at their shop, they were genuinely cheered to see their cousins.
There were hugs and kisses all around as the five cousins laughed and continued to chatter all at once. Belle introduced Dahlia, Heather, and Holly to Finn and Joshua.
When the ladies moved inside, he and Joshua held back. “Hen’s teeth,” Joshua muttered, “you owe me for this. Solving a mystery is one thing, but living in a barracks of women? I think my brain might burst.”
“Stop whining. This isn’t so different from our family gatherings. We Brayden boys don’t hug or kiss each other—”
“No, we wrestle each other to the ground and see whose teeth will get knocked out first.”
“None of us has lost teeth yet. The point is, we’re happy to see each other. We just have a different way of showing it.”