by Platt, Meara
“Wretched,” he admitted. “Finn can tell you what we’ve learned. I need to sit in the shade with a tall drink. I’m fine, just feeling that lump on my brow.”
Belle nodded sympathetically. “Holly feels terrible about it.”
Joshua winced. “Not her fault. I should have kept my eye on the door.”
After making certain Joshua was comfortably settled, she, Finn, and Honey walked outdoors. Finn led them beyond the garden, along a shaded walk. “Mr. Barrow and his colleague are waiting for us just around the corner. They’ll stay in hiding, but I want you to know they’re here and watching over both of you.”
He continued to lead them down the shaded walk toward a thicket of hedgerows, a sister on each arm. To anyone else, their walk would appear quite innocent, most believing he was showing a romantic interest in Honey, because it was maddeningly obvious that even their family friends considered her damaged goods.
Belle tried not to let it anger her, but she couldn’t help it. All her life, she’d accepted this attitude and had grown to believe it herself. If not for Finn, she would have spent her life believing she was inferior. He saw at once the insidious harm it had caused her in the subtle smiles they cast Honey and the pitying glances tossed her way.
He had no qualms declaring himself in love with her, but she was her own worst enemy. He was being quite patient with her and would never push her into a betrothal or marriage before she was ready. He’d said he would wait forever, but she knew it was not so. In any event, she knew her mind and would no longer hide her feelings for him. She loved him, and he deserved to know. He deserved to hear her say it.
Finn’s mind was on her family’s blackmailer, so Belle turned her attention to dealing with that matter.
“They’ve given us a name for your villain,” Finn said. “A Lord Alliston Fortesque. Do either of you know him?”
Honey gasped and turned to Belle. “His son, Lawrence, was courting you shortly before we were sent down to London.”
Belle rolled her eyes. “He wasn’t really, but this explains his sudden interest in me. Finn, it was fake. I could tell. His every word and action reeked of insincerity. But this explains why he bothered to call on me. His father probably pushed him to do it, hoping he could wheedle the formulas out of me. He wanted me for my nose. Why else would—”
“Why else would anyone want you? Damn it, Belle. Don’t you dare belittle yourself.”
She laughed and cast him a sweet, heartwarming smile. “My knight in shining armor. Will you challenge me to a duel if I continue to insult the woman you love?”
Finn shook his head and sighed. “I’m sorry, Belle. It tears me up inside to hear you say such things.”
She gave his hand a light squeeze. “I know, and I will overcome it in time. But I’ve heard it for so long that’s it’s become a part of me.”
“Fortesque’s son was a fool if he didn’t recognize the obvious beauty in you.”
“Perhaps in time, he might have realized it, but I think the son was tossed into this mess just as we were. His father is the brains behind this nasty operation.” She pursed her lips in thought. “Lawrence did not strike me as being very clever. Not nearly as clever as you. Or handsome as you. Or—”
Finn growled low in his throat, but it was a playful growl. “Stop, or I’ll go down on my knee and propose to you again. Ah, here’s Homer Barrow and his associate, Mick. Let me introduce them to you.”
Homer Barrow reminded Belle of a kindly grandfather, the sort who would cheerfully take a horde of grandchildren on his lap and let them clamber all over his portly body. But his eyes were sharp and assessing, and he appeared to be quick-witted as well, the sort who could talk his way out of any dangerous scrape.
His face was jowly, and he had a prominent, bulbous nose. His companion, Mick, was a brawny man with a leathery face like that of a sailor used to spending long hours in the sun.
Belle smiled at them. “It is a pleasure to meet you, gentlemen.”
They responded with equal politeness, although their accents were coarse. They quickly told her of what they’d learned about Lord Fortesque. “He may be of the Upper Crust, but his dealings are low,” Homer said. “He’s into some very shady business. Smuggling, gaming hells, pleasure dens, blackmail.”
Mick nodded. “Especially blackmail. He sets up his marks, gets them drunk. Gets them talking. Gets them losing heavily at the gaming tables to the point of ruination, then he gives them a simple way out, or so they think.”
“Tell me a secret, and I’ll eliminate your debt, is what he tells them.” Homer shook his head and sighed. “Once he learns the secret, he tears up their marker. But he doesn’t really let them off, because once they sober up, they realize what they’ve done and are willing to pay him a king’s ransom to keep it quiet. That’s when he really begins to squeeze them. Now, he doesn’t merely have his original target, but everyone else involved in the secret.”
The two runners looked to Finn for guidance.
He nodded. “The ladies know. We searched their father’s desk and discovered his secret.”
Belle frowned. “But I don’t understand. My father doesn’t drink heavily or gamble. He would never frequent the sort of establishments run by this wicked man.”
Finn’s expression darkened. “But your uncle would. And did.”
Honey gasped. “Uncle Jacob betrayed his own sister? How could he? After all she and Father have done for him! Why couldn’t he destroy himself, give up one of his own secrets?”
Belle knew the answer. “He had none of significance. So, he gave away…” She turned away, unable to finish the thought. “How do we fix this, Finn? We can’t make Fortesque forget what he knows. Besides, he’s probably told his son as well. Perhaps Runyon, too.”
Finn set a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. “Runyon’s just an enforcer. He isn’t told anything other than to go around town and collect Fortesque’s ill-gotten gains.”
“I wish they’d all get struck by lightning or fall off a cliff or drown,” Honey muttered, then realized she’d spoken the thought aloud. “I didn’t mean for us to actually do away with all of them, much as they deserve punishment.”
Finn cast her a mirthless smile. “I know. But I have a plan.”
Belle looked up at him in alarm. “It doesn’t involve you going to his establishment, does it? He’ll kill you if he suspects you intend to bring down his operation.”
His hand remained on her shoulder, lightly caressing her with the swirl of his thumbs. “I’m going to bring it down and bury him in debris up to his eyeballs.”
“Finn! You can’t! He has men protecting him. They’ll stop you before you can touch him.”
He shrugged. “Who says I ever have to lay a hand on him?”
Belle did not like the way Finn spoke so calmly. His Bow Street runners were similarly calm. No, they were icy. All three of them. Cold, hard. Determined and possibly lethal. What were they planning? “Finn…” She coughed. “You…can’t…” She coughed again, her panic rising as she realized she was about to have an attack.
Her next breath came out in a wheeze.
Honey gasped. “Oh, Belle! Not now. Keep her calm, Finn. I’ll get something for her.”
As Honey ran off, she suddenly felt Finn lift her in his arms and carry her a short distance from the runners, who were looking on in dismay. He carried her to a large, fallen oak that had yet to be cut for kindling, settling on its trunk and cradling her on his lap. “Belle, calm yourself,” he said in a deep, resonant tone that warmed her very insides. “There’ll be no weapons fired. No confrontation of that sort.”
“What if…he…” Her lungs were squeezing the breath out of her.
“What if he ignores the rules of engagement and shoots me? He won’t. I’ll meet him in a ladies’ tea shop or in the vaunted halls of one of the colleges, if I must meet him at all. The only battle we will have will be a battle of words. I’ve already been shot once. I’d be dead if not for
your cousin, Violet, saving me. So, I have no desire to test my luck again.”
“I want…” She coughed.
“You want to believe me?”
She nodded, surprised by how well he could read her thoughts. But this is how strongly they were connected to each other. Finn had known at once. She had known it, too, felt it the first time they’d ever met. Felt it the moment his lips had touched hers to breathe life back in her and his hands had pressed on her chest to keep her heart pumping.
She had been struggling to deny it ever since. “I…”
“Hush, love. These runners are the best in all of England. I didn’t send them into the bowels merely looking for the culprit behind the blackmail scheme. I also sent them in to discover the culprit’s weakness. Everybody has a vulnerable spot.”
She circled her arms around his neck and rested her head against his shoulder. At the same time, she closed her eyes and willed herself to regain the rhythm of her breathing. It helped that she was in Finn’s arms. She felt the caress of his fingers against her cheek, the warmth of his lips as he kissed her brow. She felt the strength in his big, muscled body and tried to draw from it.
Her breaths were almost back to normal by the time Honey returned with a ginger tea. She drank it down and allowed its healing properties to work its way through her chest. Finn was watching her intently. He had one eyebrow arched, as though lovingly warning her not to pass a comment about her weakness, or he would challenge her to a duel to defend her honor.
Once she felt herself well enough to stand on her own, she rose from his lap with great reluctance. “We had better return to the party. I don’t want my parents to worry.” She then turned to the two Bow Street runners. “Thank you for all you are doing for my family.”
Homer nodded. “Happy to be of service. Are ye feeling better now, Miss Farthingale?”
She smiled at him. “I’ve just spent the last ten minutes in the arms of the handsomest man in England. How can I not feel just perfect?”
She, Finn, and Honey walked back to the house to mingle with their guests. Belle wasn’t sure what she would do if Fortesque dared show his face, but to her relief, he was not in attendance at their party. No doubt, he found it too dangerous to socially engage with those he was bleeding dry.
The party passed uneventfully after that, the day remaining warm and sunny, with little more than a light breeze wafting in the air. The table linens gently billowed in the breeze, and the wind rustled through the leaves.
Belle was sensitive to the fragrant scents stirred in the air…roses warming in the sun, a lingering dew on the grass, the sweet, honeyed scent of the hedgerows surrounding their grounds. Of course, each food course, as it was set out, also captured her attention. The earthy scent of fish and game hen, the aromatic scent of ripe fruit, and the array of pungent cheeses. But the scent she loved best was the freshly baked bread, hot and crusty, still steaming as it was carried straight from the kiln onto the tables to cool.
The tables were bowed and groaning by the time the desserts were laid out. Their savory allure beckoned even those who vowed they’d eaten too much and could not manage a bite more. Yet somehow, everyone found room for buttered apple tarts, the delicate and ornate tennis cake which served as a centerpiece for the dessert table, Banbury cakes, blancmange, lemon cream, and syllabub.
Belle set aside her distress and managed to enjoy conversing with old friends again. She introduced them to Finn, since he remained by her side. It quickly became clear to everyone they were a courting couple. Having him beside her felt quite splendid. He wasn’t overly doting, for it was not in his manner to be a fawning toady.
However, it was in his nature to be protective. She knew he was struggling with it, but he didn’t stifle her as they moved through the crowd and stopped to engage in conversation with those she had not seen in a while. She no longer cared that everyone first glanced across the garden to where Honey stood, as though expecting her to shove through the crowd and claim it was all a mistake, that Finn was really courting her.
But after those first few glances of confusion, there came acceptance and genuinely good wishes for her and Finn.
After the party, Belle finally had a moment to relax. Most of their friends had returned to their homes. A few remained here for the night but had already retired to their guest chambers and would leave first thing in the morning. Her family and Joshua had retired to their rooms, leaving her and Finn alone downstairs to close up the house and douse the lamps and sconces. “It was a nice party, Belle.”
“If not for the anvil dangling over our heads.” She cast him a wry smile. “I’d hoped to talk to my parents this evening, but we may as well wait until the last of our guests leave us tomorrow morning. I don’t want to put off the discussion any longer. I can see this secret has devastated them. Perhaps it will be worse for them once they realize we know, but I hope not. I think they will be relieved…or at least accepting of it, once we tell them.”
He nodded. “You must be tired. Let me walk you up to your bedchamber.”
When they got to her door, she didn’t want him to leave. Of course, she couldn’t invite him in. Yet, she couldn’t bear to be apart from him.
He must have sensed her yearning. He tipped his head toward her room. “Is your maid in there?”
“No, I dismissed her earlier.”
He glanced at her gown. “Need help untying your laces?”
“I was going to ask Honey…but…would you mind handling the task?”
“Mother in heaven,” he murmured, turning her slightly and nudging her arm up so he could see the lacing along her side. There was no way to loosen the intricate ties without his hand grazing the fullness of her breast. “Ah, Belle. Perhaps this isn’t such a good idea. You ought to wake Honey.”
“No, I’d like you to do it.” She was horrified by what she’d just said but was not going to take it back. Instead of apologizing, she opened her door and drew him inside.
He was frowning, not the response she’d hoped for, but understood this was his protective nature acting up again, even to protect her against himself. “Belle, are you certain?”
She nodded and shut the door behind them. “I don’t know what will happen tomorrow, and at this moment, I don’t care. I know my parents will not respond well when they find out we know their secret. I expect the entire household will be in an uproar. The servants will know something is going on, and some might even figure it out.”
“Servants know how to be discreet.”
“I hope so. Some of them are truly loyal and will take it to their graves. Others, I don’t know. But the greater danger is Lord Fortesque. Despite your plan, there’s no guarantee my family will be saved from ruin.”
“There is never any certainty in life.” He stood in the center of her room, his arms folded across his chest so that he would not reach out and take her into his embrace. He was still wary of what she was doing. No doubt, he understood why she’d invited him in and asked for his assistance in removing her gown.
However, she was not having much success in tempting him.
She sighed in frustration.
The Book of Love said all men had two brains, the low and the high. She was trying to appeal to Finn’s low brain. The book ought to have warned that seduction was not as simple as it appeared, despite a man’s low brain propensities.
“I suppose you’re wondering why I’ve brought you in here.” She tried to sound casual.
She heard the affectionate humor in his tone as he replied. “To lure me down the path of wickedness and defile me, I expect.” Then his manner turned serious. “Perhaps it is the other way around. I am not averse to having my way with you, but it must be for the right reasons.”
She finally mustered the courage to meet his gaze, and her heart melted. Truly, this man was stunning. But she also saw the intelligence and compassion in his exquisite eyes. “What do you love about me, Finn?”
He unfolded his arms and stepped t
oward her but did not touch her. “Everything. I love that your name is Bluebell. I love your smile and the impudent arch of your eyebrows. I love your sharp mind, and don’t roll your eyes at me. I could not bear ten minutes in your company if you were a simple-minded peahen. Of course, I love your body. Don’t ask me why. I think it’s just my low brain response. The shape and symmetry of you…meaning your beautiful breasts.”
She took no offense and laughed softly.
“That, too. Your sweet, soft laugh. I love the sparkle in your eyes when you look at me. You stir all of my senses. Now that I’ve read that book, I understand just what happens when one falls in love.”
“You haven’t mentioned my affliction yet. Is there not an element of pity that draws you to me?”
He took her question with surprising seriousness. “I won’t deny there is a little of that, but it is only one very small part of the entirety of reasons. In order for us to gain commitment and intimacy, we have to connect with each other on many levels. I think of it as interlocking parts. Our parts fit. You have a vulnerability, and I have a protective nature that needs to rescue you. I’m a smart man, and my mind often speeds ahead, leaving others behind. You have no trouble keeping up with me. You are secure in your own talents and can run circles around me when it comes to those ciphers.”
“It’s just a game.”
“Men make careers and gain respected reputations on such games.” He arched an eyebrow and grinned. “Here’s one for you. What is broken merely by your speaking its name?”
“Here I am trying to seduce you, and you wish to play word games?”
“Oh, I’ll get to the seduction shortly. But it’s important for you to understand why I’m in love with you. You’re worried I’ll come to my senses and distance myself from you and your disgraced family.”
She nodded.
“It will never happen. Have you figured out the riddle yet?”
She nodded again. “It’s simple. What is broken merely by my speaking its name? The answer is silence. If I speak the word, then I’ve broken the silence.”