He must have felt the slight tremble in her hand despite her brave words because Alex squeezed her hand between both of his. “I promise you, little one. I will take care of myself and keep that upstart from causing any trouble for our beloved country. Now you promise me that you will take care of yourself. I know your parents love you and would never harm you, but they are not completely rational when it comes to the subject of the Wrenthams. You have repeatedly expressed concern over my hatred of double dealings, but in this case, I absolve you of any need for guilt. Lie if you must. I would dearly love to have you remain my partner in this particular endeavour.”
Rose pulled back in surprise, gratified by his concern, but chagrined over his words. “Your Grace, I could never lie outright to my papa. I would like to avoid mentioning any explanation of our particular involvement, but if I cannot avoid it, I will not lie about it. That is where I draw the line in my life of spying.”
She could not quite decipher the flicker of emotions that crossed Alex’s face, but Rose felt another wave of goose bumps rise on her flesh, as she thought he was about to kiss her again. She took a step back from him; he allowed her to pull her hand from his grasp, and the moment passed.
Alex summed up their conversation. “Very well, Miss Rose. I will trust your judgment and await word from you. I promise to remain vigilant regardless of what transpires between you and your father. And I will wish you luck,” he finalized with another wide grin.
Rose appreciated his lightening of the mood. She was glad their interlude was about to conclude. His presence had been unsettling to her the last few times they encountered one another but this time, with that kiss at the beginning, it was nearly more than she could handle. She was grateful they had managed to have a coherent conversation despite the swirling emotions she was experiencing, but she was also glad their time together was coming to an end. It would not do for her to fall in love with the Duke of Wrentham, she scolded herself for what felt like the millionth time, as she hurriedly took her leave of him and gathered her things.
Without a backward glance, she strode to the open doorway, but before exiting the room she could not resist turning back for one last look at the handsome nobleman. With an upraised hand, she waved goodbye and forced her reluctant feet to bear her away.
∞∞∞
Alex was left staring at the empty doorway, his arm still elevated in the small wave they had exchanged. With rueful regret, he took a deep breath and turned away. Looking about, he decided to leave by another way. His usually alert senses were somewhat preoccupied with thoughts of Miss Smythe. He wondered if they would ever again be able to share such easy camaraderie. With renewed determination, he reminded himself that he was a duke, and he would have to make it possible. All of a sudden, though, his dulled wits sharpened as he realized someone was watching him. From the quick glance he got before that someone got up and tried to hurry away, it looked as though they might have become comfortable watching him for a while. That meant that he had been watching them. That is when Alex’s blood ran quite cold, and his previously dulled wits truly came into focus.
Endeavouring to appear nonchalant, he turned his head in the direction he was walking, toward the back entrance of Burlington House, while keeping an eye on the character out of the corner of his eye. Who are you? he asked inside his mind. And are you watching me on the orders of Sir Broderick? And if so, how am I to ever get word to Rose? was his last anguished thought as he hurried toward his waiting carriage.
Glad to see his tiger on the ground on the far side of his team, the duke hastened to join him, forestalling the young man’s leap onto the back of the conveyance.
“Pete, come here. I have another assignment for you today.” With a quick glance over his shoulder, he could see that the observer was still in sight and had, in fact, paused to see if the duke was still watching him. Hidden as he was behind the horses, Alex did not think the other man could see him. “Do you see that squirrelly looking man by the last pillar?”
“The buck with the brown coat, whose hat looks like someone stomped on it?” Pete asked eagerly.
“The very one. I want you to follow him as discreetly as possible and then let me know what you find out.” Alex paused to regard his young servant seriously. “I must warn you, this could be dangerous. I will not turn you off if you refuse.”
“Get on wit’ you, yer Grace. I can look after meself. And danger ain’t nothin’ but excitement with a different name.”
Alex grinned at the young man’s words. “Very well then, do not let him notice you, and you absolutely must not be caught. Run away if you are in the least bit of danger. Whatever you might find out is more useful to me than a dead tiger.”
“Discreet is my other name,” Pete responded with quiet dignity as he peered out from between the horses’ legs. “I’ll have all the info you could want and more before the end of the night, yer Grace. Don’t you trouble yer mind none about me.”
With those words the young man scampered quickly away from the carriage and took up an advantageous position close to the large building.
Alex made a show of checking his horses’ harnesses and then climbed up into the vehicle in order to make an explanation for his disappearance from view, hoping the scoundrel watching him would not realize he had been set upon. With a mental shrug, despite his myriad of misgivings, Alex drove away leaving his tiger to gather as much intelligence as he could.
Hoping he was wrong, Alex feared that his Rosie was now in much more danger than he ever would have thought, and the duke wracked his brain for any ideas on how to mitigate the danger.
As soon as he arrived at his large house in Mayfair, Alex summoned several footmen to his study as he contemplated how Miss Smythe would react were she to realize just how capable of duplicity he had become. He had found it quaint to realize how innocent she truly was despite her protestations otherwise and could not bear to disabuse her of her ideas. But how could she possibly believe that a duke could remain as innocent as she thinks me? Clearly the poor dear has no real experience, despite her protestations to the contrary.
“Thank you, men, for your quick response to my summons,” Alex began, addressing the three large men assembled in his study, dressed in the Wrentham livery. “I have a job for you.”
“All right, guv’nor,” declared the most vocal of the three, happily. “Not to be rude about your hospitality in providing us with work, but being a footman is deadly dull.”
Alex grinned at the man’s words. “This job might not be that much more interesting, I am afraid, Craig. I need the three of you to rotate shifts watching Miss Rosamund Smythe.”
The three men looked at each other before turning blank looks on their master. Craig, always the spokesman, answered for the three of them. “Are we watching her to keep you informed of her activities, yer Grace?” he asked as politely as possible. Not that he really cared what the duke was up to, but he needed to know the scope of their duties.
“That is not exactly what I meant, although I would be glad if you could manage to keep me apprised of her whereabouts. I fear she might be in danger, and given the current situation between our families, I cannot warn her or her father of the danger. I need you three to watch over her as discreetly as possible, and keep your eye out for anyone else that might be watching her or her house.”
“Ah, I see. Right-o, yer Grace. That should be right easy. If that will be all, we’ll get right on it.”
The young men made to leave before one of them thought of something. “I’m assumin’ we oughta change out of our uniforms, right, yer Grace?”
“That is an excellent idea, Thomas, yes. Try to be as unobtrusive as possible. My livery being spotted near the Smythe residence would give rise to comments and conjecture, I am quite certain, and would no doubt get you chased away as quick as a wink, too.”
Grinning, the three men exited the room, hurrying away to fulfil their duties. Alex could hear them grumbling as they went down the ha
ll, arguing over who would be the first to take a turn at the task. He was happy to have such a reliable staff and hoped it would be enough. He really needed to get a warning to Rose, but a note delivered by one of his footmen would be impossible, and even a hired urchin would be noticed by her parents.
With fortuitous timing, Alex thought of Wesley, just as he heard the knocker on his front door. Jumping to his feet, Alex hoped it was his friend coming to pay a visit. Not waiting for the butler to announce him, the duke strode toward the front of the house.
“My Lord Dunbar is here to see you, Your Grace,” the butler announced redundantly as Alex entered the foyer.
“Excellent, William, thank you,” Alex answered cheerfully as he walked past both the butler and Lord Dunbar, expecting the viscount to follow him as he entered the front receiving room. Glad to see Wesley close on his heels, Alex shut the door firmly behind him after instructing the butler, “See that we are not disturbed for at least a quarter of an hour.”
“Very well, Your Grace,” the butler tried to answer, but the doors were already closed on him.
“You look in fine spirits this morning, Your Grace. I was unsure if you would even be up and about at this hour of the day,” Wesley declared to his good friend.
“Whatever do you mean?” Alex was confused.
“It is still a couple of hours before noon, Your Grace. Despite your early call upon me the other day, I know it is not your usual habit to be about so early,” Wesley stated with a grin.
“Is it really still that early?” Alex asked, surprised. “I would have thought it was halfway through the afternoon,” he mused. “Well never mind about that. What are you doing here, if you thought I would not be about? Is it something urgent, or can it wait, because I really have need of you.”
“That is why I am here. I awoke this morning remembering your concerns last night over Broderick, and I thought to offer my services this morning, such that they are. Keep in mind that I am a novice, but I am willing to do whatever is in my power to assist you and our fair country.”
“Those are truly noble sentiments, my good man, but right at the moment, I need your assistance for the fair Rosamund.”
“Rosamund?” Wesley asked a trifle blankly.
“We met this morning to discuss the situation, and I fear we were being watched. I failed to notice until she had already left, so I was unable to warn her. And of course, I cannot call on her to deliver the news myself.”
“Nor can you send round a discreet note,” finished the viscount, catching the duke’s idea. “So, you would like me to call upon her and apprise her of this development. Well, that shan’t strain my skills overmuch. I would be happy to. How urgent is the delivery of this news? Should I set out immediately or wait until the socially acceptable hour? And is there anything else you might need me to do?”
Alex grinned at Dunbar’s willing offer of help. “Thank you so much, Wes. I truly appreciate it. Part of me wants you to rush right over there, but it will draw the least amount of attention if you call at a more acceptable time, of course. And I am fairly certain she should be safe for the time being. She was planning to return home and tell her father about Broderick’s plots, or what little we know about them, at the very least. She could be closeted with him for a while. And she is afraid she may be banished after that interview, so if she gets sent back home to their estate, she should be reasonably safe there.”
Wesley had a thought. “You say you were observed together. Do you think the person who was watching you heard your discussion?”
“I think it highly unlikely, but it is possible. I was not paying very close attention to our surroundings, I am ashamed to admit, and did not notice him until after Rose had left, like I said. When I saw him, he was far enough away that it is doubtful he could hear our words, as we were speaking in low tones anyway. But under the circumstances, if he is one of Broderick’s men, just the fact of us being together is damning, especially when coupled with her matchmaking efforts last night. Broderick will most certainly come to the conclusion that we are onto him. I have no way of knowing how that will affect him, but I must admit I am relieved that someone with knowledge, authority, and ability shall soon be involved in this convoluted affair.”
Wesley was nodding in sympathetic understanding. Alex continued on when it became obvious his friend had nothing further to ask or add. “I set my young groom to follow the one who was watching us. You may tell Rosie that so she knows more information might be forthcoming. But I pray you do not tell her that I have set my men to watching her. I am unsure if she would be receptive to this idea. She has the ridiculous notion that she is capable of looking after herself.”
Seeing Wesley’s face screwed up into an objection Alex laughed and carried on, “I do not mean to disparage her abilities, do not get me wrong here. She is an intelligent young woman, fully capable of all sorts of things that I probably cannot even fathom, but one cannot get around the fact that she is a girl, and as such, a man such as the likes of Broderick is quite capable of doing her a great deal of harm.
“And if she is labouring under the delusion that he is unaware of her involvement, she will not be alert to any dangers. Even once she is made aware, I still cannot be easy about her safety. Even though it is she who brought me the information that has led to this situation, I cannot help but feel that it is my fault she may be in danger.” He paused before adding as an afterthought, “And possibly even banished.”
“All understandable sentiments. But I must ask you an impertinent question, Your Grace.” Wesley paused while Alex looked at him fully with his left eyebrow quirked in haughty inquiry. “What are your intentions toward Miss Smythe? Given the state of affairs, as you called them, between your two families, I should think you would be delighted to see her in danger or banished.”
“Why would I ever wish to see her in danger?” Alex was shocked at his friend’s suggestion. “Even with the difficulties between the Smythes and the house of Wrentham, I would never wish to see any of her family in danger, least of all Rosie.” Alex paused as he attempted to bring his temper under control and thought more about Wesley’s words. “And I would dislike her to be banished, as well. I am hoping to find some way to bridge the breach between our families, if you must know.”
Wesley grinned. “That is excellent news, Your Grace.” Seeing the warning look being shot his way by the duke, he hastened to add, “News that I will, of course, keep to myself.”
“See that you do,” Alex warned before beginning to pace. “How soon do you think you could call on her?”
Wesley chuckled over the duke’s obvious concerned distraction. “Did we not just agree that I cannot arrive before the fashionable hour? I thought to take her riding in the park. That way we can be assured of privacy for our discussion. I could, reasonably speaking, arrive a little early, even an hour or two, but that would still be a couple hours from now. It would actually be wise for me to do so, then the park will not be overcrowded, and we will be guaranteed privacy for our conversation.”
“Yes, yes, of course, I apologize, Dunbar, my wits have gone begging,” Alex excused with a wry grin. “It is just as well if she is to be closeted with her father for some time—no doubt her explanations will require more than a few minutes. I just fear that if she is unsuccessful in keeping mention of me out of her story, she may be in hot water with her parents.”
“Understandable fears, Your Grace,” Wesley acknowledged before reasoning, “But even if they do send her packing back to the wilds of their estate, they would have to allow her a little bit of time for packing. And I would imagine they would not send her off when she is bound to end up driving in the dead of night, so she would have at least until tomorrow morning. Surely, not to place too fine a point upon my own importance, but I am a viscount—they would allow me a few moments of her time, no matter how frustrated they might be with their errant daughter.”
Alex finally found reason for mirth, and he let out a loud
guffaw over his friend’s words. “You are a complete hand, my lord. Thank you for that reminder. Lord and Lady Smythe might, in fact, view you in the form of a saviour, and they would be delighted to bundle her up into your carriage for a ride. That is, as long as they do not remember that we are such good friends.”
Wesley waved away the duke’s concern. “I am known to be a highly sociable creature, one who has many varying friendships. They shall not dwell overmuch upon our connection, I am sure.”
Alex was not fully convinced, but they lacked any other plan so there was naught he could do. He had plans to ride around to visit his solicitors once more and engage their assistance in finding out Broderick’s schemes, now that it was determined they were not directed at the duke personally but, in fact, the entire government. Alex bade a hasty goodbye to Lord Dunbar and hurried about his own preparations.
“I shall wish you luck, then, Your Grace,” Wesley said jauntily before making his way to the door.
“And you as well,” came the heavier reply.
Alex stood watching the door as the viscount left nearly as swiftly as he had arrived. Thanking the heavens for the comfortable friendship, the duke pulled the bell for his butler as he strode from the room.
“See that my phaeton is brought round and ready in fifteen minutes, I have to go out forthwith.”
“Very good, Your Grace.”
Chapter Fifteen
Rose had collected her maid from the foyer of Burlington House, where Mary had been happily flirting with a footman.
“I beg your pardon, Miss, I should have been more attentive to you,” Mary was stammering, hurrying along in Rose’s wake, mistaking her haste for anger.
Rose stopped abruptly. “No pardon is needed, Mary, I can assure you. I am certainly not angry with you, whatever gave you that impression?”
“You are very quiet, Miss Rose, and going as fast your skirts will allow. Besides, the pinched look about your mouth made me think you weren’t in the best humour.”
The Duke Conspiracy: A Sweet Regency Romance Adventure (Mayfair Mayhem Book 1) Page 21