by Stella Riley
‘I know him. I know him very, very well. And early morning meetings in the park?’ Miranda shook her head. ‘You should have been more careful.’
It gave Cassie a jolt to realise what she should have known from the start. The witch had been having Sebastian watched; and her, too it would seem – for how else could she have known Olivia even existed? It posed the question of how much more she knew.
Managing a suitably careless tone, she said, ‘Since I had a groom with me, it was scarcely clandestine. And why should I not ride out with my own cousin?’
‘What?’ Shock drew a line between Miranda’s brows. ‘He’s your cousin?’
‘Didn’t you know? Sebastian is my cousin and a close friend of my brother. Now, for heaven’s sake come to the point!’
‘Very well.’ The blue gaze passed disparagingly over Cassie from head to toe. ‘My name, in case you’ve forgotten, is Lady Silvarez. And I’m Sebastian Audley’s lover.’
Returning look for look, Cassie raised what she hoped were supercilious brows.
‘I might congratulate you except that what you mean is you were his lover.’
‘Was – and will be again. This confusion of his is only temporary. He’s mine. He’s been mine for a very long time. Sooner or later, he’ll realise it.’
The utter confidence with which she spoke sent a shiver down Cassie’s back. When she’d wondered if Miranda was mad, she hadn’t actually considered that it might be the literal truth. Now she was beginning to. She said, ‘I’d be surprised if he agreed with you. In fact, it sounds highly unlikely. Oh – don’t mistake me. I daresay you and Sebastian had an affaire. But it must have been some time ago.’
For the first time, Miranda looked less than certain. ‘He’s discussed this with you?’
‘Naturally not. Even as cousins, that would be highly improper. But we milk-and-water Misses aren’t entirely naïve, you know. We’re aware that gentlemen have these little … arrangements. But they don’t mean anything and they don’t last. Also, a gentleman doesn’t marry a woman he can have for the price of a few coins and a trinket or two.’
‘Watch your mouth.’ In two strides, Miranda was looming over her. ‘If you’re wise, you won’t make me angry. I can hurt you without leaving a mark.’
‘And I can scream the house down.’ Managing not to flinch, Cassie shrugged and tried to sound faintly bored. ‘I don’t know what you expect to gain by abducting me but do you honestly imagine you’ll get away with it? It’s a serious crime and my father will see you behind bars for it.’
‘By the time I’m done, your father will have more important things to worry about.’
Cassie didn’t like the sound of that. ‘Meaning what?’
‘You’ll find out.’ With a careless shrug, Miranda turned away to the small, heavily spotted mirror above the empty fireplace and inspected the damage to her temple. The cut was just on her hairline and seemed to have stopped bleeding so she deftly re-arranged her curls to cover it. ‘So … Sebastian is your cousin. Do you think he’ll marry you?’
‘What makes you suppose I want him to? But I certainly don’t think he’ll marry you. Even if your goose hadn’t already been cooked on that score, I imagine the nasty scene you engineered outside the Theatre Royal would have done the trick. And yes, I do know that was your doing. But what I don’t understand is why you’re so determined to chase after a man who plainly doesn’t want you. It’s rather pathetic. Don’t you have any pride?’
There was a brief unpleasant pause. Then, ‘Clever little bitch, aren’t you?’
‘Clever enough to recognise desperation when I see it.’
‘Desperation?’ Miranda whirled away from her reflection, her face contorting with fury. ‘Look at me, you stupid child! I can have any man I choose!’
‘Not quite any man, apparently.’ Cassie decided that, since the gloves were off, she might as well continue fighting back. ‘I don’t dispute that you’re beautiful – but what’s inside your head isn’t. Sebastian has presumably made it clear that he doesn’t want you and for some reason, you’re afraid he might want me instead. That’s why I’m here, isn’t it? Because you are jealous? And probably because you’ve decided that if you can’t have him, no one else should.’ Something changed in Miranda’s expression, causing Cassie to press home her advantage. ‘That’s it, isn’t it? After all, even you can’t be idiotic enough to imagine that putting him in the public pillory would make him like you any better. You did it to make him unacceptable to any other lady of his own class. How disappointed you must be that it didn’t work.’
The azure gaze narrowed and became suddenly extremely astute.
‘Oh dear. Now who’s pathetic?’
‘I beg your pardon?’
‘You’re in love with him. Aren’t you?’
Cassie’s pulse thudded a warning to be careful.
‘Oh – for heaven’s sake! Where on earth did you get that idea?’
‘You’re not hard to read. You’ve fallen in love with the pretty face and the charm and that spectacular body – just like all the others.’
‘Just like you, you mean?’ asked Cassie sweetly. ‘But you’re letting your imagination run away with you again when what you ought to be doing is sticking to the point. Do you think I’m going to keep quiet about tonight? I’m not. Sebastian will know you did this. He will know … and between them, he and my father will make sure you face the consequences.’
An odd expression crossed Miranda’s face and then she walked to the door and knocked on it. As the key was turned from the outside, she said, ‘Perhaps. Perhaps not. We’ll see. Meanwhile, you can go.’
‘At last.’ Taken aback and suddenly suspicious but wanting only to escape while she could, Cassie rose to shake out her hopelessly crumpled petticoats. Then, ‘Was there any point at all to this ridiculous game of yours?’
‘It wasn’t pointless and it wasn’t a game.’ Miranda gestured to the man standing motionless outside the door. ‘Jake will show you the way out. Goodbye.’
With a jerk of his head, the coachman invited Cassie to follow him down the stairs.
She hesitated, naturally wary of putting herself in the power of the fellow who’d brought her here in the first place. Had it not been turned midnight and pitch dark, she’d have insisted on finding another conveyance. As it was, in addition to feeling deathly tired, she suspected she wouldn’t necessarily be any safer with anyone else – let alone wandering unfamiliar streets on her own. Since there seemed no sensible alternative, she turned her back on Miranda and followed.
‘Beg pardon about the oil of vitriol, Miss,’ murmured Jake, when they emerged in the deserted alleyway. ‘Couldn’t risk you squawking while I was taking you into Ma Grendel’s. Somebody might’ve seen you.’
‘How thoughtful.’ Wrinkling her nose, Cassie stepped into the hackney. ‘Now take me to Conduit Street.’
He said nothing, merely slamming the door shut and taking his place on the box. Cassie kept her eyes open, staring through the window until she was sure the carriage was heading in the right direction. Then, finally giving way to the fear she had been fighting off for the last hour, she dropped her head into her hands and let herself shake.
When the carriage came to a halt and Jake opened the door, she was half-way through it before she recognised that this was not Conduit Street.
‘Oh – for heaven’s sake! What now?’ she demanded, looking about her and swiftly coming to the conclusion that the coach had halted somewhere in the vicinity of St James – a respectable enough area but one where many young men had lodgings ‘You were supposed to take me home. This isn’t it.’
‘Can’t take you the whole way, Miss – sorry.’ Taking a firm hold on her arm, he marched her briskly to a nearby door and pulled the bell. ‘Not leaving you alone in the street, neither. But the gentleman as lives here’ll see you safe home.’
‘Is that what she told you? ’ Cassie slammed her elbow into his stomach and felt as if she’
d driven it into a brick wall. ‘It could be anyone in there. Let go of me! I’ll walk the rest of the way. Let me go!’
Jake simply pulled the bell again and light showed in the glass arch above the door.
‘It’ll be all right,’ he insisted. ‘Honest, it will.’
She made another violent attempt to wrench free but merely succeeded in tearing the sleeve of her gown. Then the door opened, a sleepily surly voice demanded to know what the hell was going on … and Cassie found herself face to face with a gentleman wrapped in a scarlet brocade chamber-robe.
It was Richard Penhaligon.
~ * * ~ * * ~
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
At around the time Mistress Delahaye and Mr Penhaligon were staring speechlessly at each other across his doorstep, Mr Audley and Lord Sarre arrived in Mercer Street. Having taken a slight detour to check that Cassie was still missing, the two men had run virtually the entire distance.
‘What now?’ gasped Adrian. ‘You can’t go storming in, kicking down doors and shouting. If Cassie’s here – and we don’t know for sure that she is – we need to get her out without making it public knowledge.’
‘I know that. But I can walk in through the front door like any other customer.’
‘And then what?’
‘Find the Madam and ask.’ Sebastian took a moment to steady his breathing. ‘It’s been a few years since I visited this sort of establishment but I expect money still works.’
Despite the inevitable dishevelment resulting from their race through the streets, the brothel’s burly doorman recognised the pair as gentlemen even before one of them slid a coin into his palm saying, ‘Is Mrs Grendel about tonight?’
‘And every night, m’lord. Just go on in. She always finds new faces.’
Inside the air was stale and overladen with the smell of tobacco, cheap perfume and sweat. Adrian grimaced.
‘God. Do these places always stink?’
Sebastian didn’t answer. Through an open doorway to their right, he saw a very large woman robed in purple silk rise from her chair and glide towards them with surprising grace. He said, ‘Mrs Grendel, I presume?’
‘You presume right, sir. Welcome to my establishment.’ She encompassed them both in a warm smile. This wasn’t difficult. She’d always appreciated handsome, well-built young men and these two, though very different, were equally easy on the eye. ‘What would be your pleasure this evening?’
Knowing that Sebastian was incapable of maintaining even the façade of courtesy, Adrian said, ‘I wonder if we might speak privately?’
Her smile faded but she stood aside and gestured for them to enter her office.
‘Well, sirs?’
Sebastian opened his mouth, then snapped it shut when Adrian dropped a warning hand on his shoulder and said smoothly, ‘Unless we have been misinformed, a young lady was brought here this evening against her will. We are here to retrieve her. So long as she is unharmed and allowed to leave with us immediately, this unfortunate episode need cause you no trouble.’
The threat was subtle but Mrs Grendel wasn’t a stupid woman. With an irritable sigh, she said, ‘That’ll teach me to ignore my better judgement, won’t it?’
‘What do you mean?’ demanded Sebastian. And unable to stand it any longer, ‘Where is she?’
‘The lady your sweetheart, is she?’ Mrs Grendel gave his arm a sympathetic pat. ‘I’m sorry. I daresay you’ve been off your head with worry, haven’t you?’
‘That’s one way of putting it. Where is she? And don’t try saying she’s not here --’
‘Well, that’s the thing, dear. She’s not.’
‘What?’
‘She was. No point in denying that. But she should’ve been safe home some time ago.’ She stopped, when she saw the blood drain from Sebastian’s skin. Then, drawing a long breath, she said flatly, ‘But she’s not, is she?’
‘No,’ said Adrian. ‘She’s not.’
‘Oh bloody hell.’ Mrs Grendel shut her eyes for a moment and then said, ‘In that case, do what you must. But first, let’s be clear. This wasn’t my idea and I set rules to protect the young lady. If she’s not where she should be, it’s because the bitch changed Jake’s orders and he hadn’t the wit to tell me. So go on upstairs and shake the truth out of her. Third floor, second door on the right. You won’t be disturbed.’
Sebastian was already heading for the stairs. Adrian murmured a swift, ‘Thank you,’ and wasted no time in following.
Aware that returning to Half Moon Street before the final part of her plan had reached fruition wasn’t a good idea, Miranda had decided to stay where she was. Kicking off her shoes and pulling the pins from her hair, she ordered supper and settled down to make herself comfortable.
When she heard feet pounding up the stairs, she was reclining on the scarlet covered bed with a glass of brandy, smiling maliciously and wishing she could see Richard’s face when he realised what she’d done. Then the door burst open and Sebastian was staring down at her with murder in his eyes.
The brandy slopped over her hand as she struggled to get off the bed but he was quicker. In two strides, he was hauling her to her feet in an iron grip.
‘Where is she?’ he demanded, his voice low and raw. ‘Tell me now and make it the truth – otherwise I’ll hurt you.’
Her eyes slid to where Adrian stood leaning against the closed door, then returned to his face. She said, ‘You won’t. You’ve never hurt a woman in your life.’
‘I don’t mind making you the first. Where is she?’
‘I sent her home.’
‘Liar.’ The brandy glass fell to the carpet as he closed his fingers around her wrist and dragged her across the room to shove her down in a chair. ‘I’ve neither the time nor the inclination to be polite, Miranda – so don’t depend on it. I’ll ask you one more time. Where did you send her?’
‘Home. If she’s not there, that isn’t my fault.’ She tried to twist away only to be forced back into her seat.
‘There’s no part of this that isn’t your fault. But I’ve no interest in excuses and no time even to care why you took her. Adrian – I need a hand. And your cravat.’
‘My cravat?’ His lordship watched Sebastian pull off his own and use it, despite Miranda’s nails clawing at him, to tie one of her wrists to the arm of the chair. ‘Oh well. I suppose I can’t look much more disreputable than I already do.’
‘Stop this!’ she shouted. ‘I haven’t hurt the stupid girl. All I did was talk to her and --’
She stopped speaking when, with ruthless efficiency, she found herself securely tied to the chair. But when Sebastian pulled the knife from his boot, her eyes widened and she said a trifle breathlessly, ‘That’s a pretty toy but it doesn’t frighten me. I know you won’t use it. And no matter what you say, I know you’ll never hurt me.’
From his place by the door, Adrian wished he was as sure. After what Sebastian had gone through in the last couple of hours, the veneer of civilised behaviour had worn very thin and this was one of those times when life had no room for gentlemanly scruples. Certainly, if it had been Caroline who’d fallen into this woman’s clutches, he himself would have done whatever it took.
‘You have no idea what I would and would not do. You don’t know me at all. If you did, you’d have taken no for an answer and stayed well away from me.’ He twisted a long, curling lock of her hair around his fist. ‘Last chance. Tell me where to find her.’
‘How should I know? I’ve told you. I sent her --’ She stopped again, this time with an outraged screech as the Russian knife sliced through her hair. ‘What the hell are you doing?’
‘Getting answers.’ He dropped the hair in her lap and reached for another ringlet, this time, cutting it off without waiting for her to speak. As that, too, landed in her lap, he said, ‘You could always have it made into a wig. But if you want to keep it on your head, I suggest you start talking. Well?’
In the brief time she hesitated, a third coil fell
on top of the other two. Tears of fury gathered on her lashes and she tried appealing to Adrian.
‘Sir – make him stop. Please! Surely you can see that he’s quite mad?’
‘Not mad. Inspired.’ Adrian watched critically over folded arms as yet more hair fell. ‘I’d answer Mr Audley’s question now, if I were you. Barbering is not one of his skills. And you’ll get no sympathy from me, Madam. My wife would be very displeased if she thought I’d been too feeble to help her closest friend.’
Still wielding the knife, Sebastian stepped back to assess his handiwork before lifting up a section of hair from the crown of her head. He said, ‘Still undecided, Miranda? Perhaps a glance in the mirror will help you decide. Adrian?’
Nodding, his lordship unhooked the smallest mirror he could see and strolled over to hold it in front of Miranda. She howled with rage, cursed and tried to spit in Sebastian’s face.
His answer was to pull hard on the hair he held and say softly, ‘So far I’ve restrained myself from doing irreparable damage. You now have five seconds to persuade me not to cut it half an inch from your scalp. One … two … three …’
‘All right – all right!’ she screamed. ‘Fourteen, Park Place – off St James’ Street. There! Now let go of me and get out, you bastard.’
Sebastian remained perfectly still, frowning.
‘Why? Why send her there? Whose address is it?’
‘Go and find out for yourself.’
‘I don’t think so.’ He tugged at the lock of hair he still held. ‘This will be quicker and I’m nearly out of patience. Who lives in Park Place?’
Miranda held out until the mirror showed her what the knife was doing. Then, her voice thick with spite, she spat the name he wanted and added, ‘We planned it together, he and I. Every tiny bit – together!’
* * *
While Richard Penhaligon and Cassie stared at each other in mutual disbelief, Jake said happily, ‘See, Miss? I told you it’d be all right. I asked Suzie. She used to be his particular when he come to Ma Grendel’s regular and she said he always treated her nice.’