A Whisper of Treason

by Connolly, Lynne

  But Beauchamp wasn’t done. He raised his pistol, aimed it at Lord Joshua. “Do as I say, Madam. Do you think anyone would complain if I shot the traitor here and now? If he laid hands on you, so much for that. As for the other matter, I’m sure my wife spoke in error.”

  No, oh, no. This was not going to happen.

  “Come here now!” Beauchamp ordered. He was holding a pistol and, to Delphi’s horror, he drew the hammer back with an ominous click. “You are a traitor, sir, and a man of no honor. You are found out.”

  A heavy weight in the pocket nearest Delphi told her Adam had another pistol in his pocket. And a sword by his side that he had only just sheathed. A good army weapon.

  Joshua’s color rose. “You are an idiot, sir! I can only conclude that you are completely mad.”

  Joshua opened his coat wide, demonstrating his lack of a weapon. But when he released it, somehow he’d found a pistol of his own.

  This situation was escalating far too quickly. Descending into chaos.

  While the men were still shouting, she glanced at her husband. While he was shifting his pistol to his left hand in order to hold her with his right, she grabbed the spare pistol in his pocket. She knew how to use a gun, her brother had made sure of that.

  So she fired it.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  The explosion sent a shower of plaster onto everyone, sending Delphi off balance and down to the floor. She covered her head, feeling the plaster rain down and wondered where the pistol had gone. It was hot; it could set fire to something.

  The sound reverberated off the walls, made her ears ring, and her head swim. But it would have the same effect on everybody else.

  Adam threw himself down, kneeling by her. “Delphi? Oh, my God, darling, what have you done? Where are you hurt?”

  Shaking off the fine dust and lumps of what had been a finely molded plaster ceiling, Delphi took his hand and, with his help, scrambled to her feet. She burst into wild laughter, more the result of shock than of humor.

  She shook her head, getting more bits out of her hair, then saw the result of what she’d done.

  Elizabeth was nearly obscured by the body on top of her. Joshua had decided to save her from the deadly assault of the ceiling, apparently. Frederick had rushed in. It must be him, because she knew Raffetti. And the resemblance between the brothers was notable. Frederick was a little shorter, and considerably wider than Adam. His years soldiering had filled him out. His face was the same shape, with that firm jaw.

  He was glaring from eyes under lashes encrusted by fine white powder. He’d lost his wig, his shorn head revealing hair a shade darker than his brother’s angelic blond.

  Adam cursed up a storm. “Are you all right?” His face, white from more than the plaster, was drawn with concern as he watched her.

  “Oh, yes, perfectly.” She brushed off her skirts as much as she could. “Well, somebody had to do something, or there’d have been a bloodbath!”

  “Rather drastic,” Adam drawled. It hadn’t taken him long to regain his equilibrium.

  The men Adam and Beauchamp had left outside weren’t outside any longer. They gazed around at the mess, shocked. Not much good in a crisis, then. Since she’d deliberately fired at the ceiling, the crisis had passed.

  Raffetti had not come in, she noted, but stood just outside the room.

  Delphi stumbled as she made for the door, bent and picked up the pistol. A fine weapon with a sensitive trigger. Dangerous. She was glad she’d put it out of action. She handed it to Frederick.

  Beauchamp was glaring at everybody, but mostly her. “How dare you, Madam!”

  Delphi giggled. He’d lost his wig, too. He was as bald as a coot, whatever a coot was. His fine suit was ghosted with plaster, and his lace was torn. Good. And he’d lost his weapons somewhere under the debris. Even better.

  “Now, can we calm down and discuss this like human beings?” she asked, as calmly as she could.

  Elizabeth swept past her, brushing past her husband before he could stop her. “In the music room, since this one is now uninhabitable.”

  Why was it that the women had recovered faster?

  At the bottom of the staircase, she paused and addressed Delphi. “Would you like to change? I don’t have much with me, but I’m sure I can find something to fit you.”

  Delphi shook her head. “It’s just plaster dust.” She flipped her skirts. “And this hoop is so much better than mine. It didn’t break!”

  Elizabeth smiled, a touch of smugness in it, but Delphi didn’t mind. “I’ll give you the direction of my hoop maker in London. She’s the best I’ve ever found.”

  “Thank you.”

  And this time, she meant it. Who would have thought that Elizabeth had any warmth under that frosty exterior? While Delphi did not forgive the former Lady Elizabeth for the way she’d treated her and her sisters, at that moment, she decided to let the past stay there. For now.

  Still shaken from the action she hadn’t thought through, she let Elizabeth lead her to the music room. She should have accepted her offer, she thought belatedly. Then she could have asked her about her shocking claim.

  Joshua was her baby’s father? Or was she just saying that to get a reaction from her husband? Perhaps everyone would forget what she’d said, assume, as Delphi did, that it was for effect.

  But when she entered the music room – charmingly decorated, with a harpsichord in one corner that gave the room its name – she discovered she was wrong. Elizabeth lifted her chin and glared at her husband, as dignified as if she wore full court dress and was about to meet the King of Great Britain. Either of them.

  Beauchamp glared back. “You will not repeat what you said to anyone outside this room.”

  “You know it’s true,” she said.

  “We will speak of this another time.”

  Despite the warmth of the day, the room frosted over. Delphi wouldn’t have been surprised to see icicles forming at the windows. She folded her arms, shivered a little and went to join her husband. He gave her his full attention. “You’re sure you’re not hurt?”

  “Yes,” she assured him, despite being uncomfortably aware of several bruises forming on her legs and shoulders.

  Lord Joshua went to Elizabeth’s side, crooned over her. There was no doubt they were in love.

  Beauchamp heaved a sigh. “You think I did not know?”

  Elizabeth and Joshua stilled, and turned to him.

  “Do you think I was unaware of your past history?” His mouth curled in a sneer. “At first, I wanted her to show you that I had everything you wanted. But when I discovered my manhood had left me, I found another way.”

  Joshua straightened and faced his brother. “You are impotent?”

  Delphi saw Adam’s wince.

  The duke shrugged. “Either that, or my lady wife’s frigidity rendered me so. However, the dukedom needs an heir. Either from me, or from you, since we are the last of our blood.”

  “You would do that to him?” Elizabeth cried. “To us?”

  Beside Delphi, Adam stiffened. She had her hand on his arm, and felt his muscles flex.

  “I would do that to gain my heir.” Beauchamp appeared as white and still as one of the statues in the shop. He set his jaw, but not before it had trembled.

  Delphi was beginning to see what he was at, and it sickened her. But she would let him explain. If necessary, she would act as if she didn’t understand, because she wanted to hear this through, from the man’s own lips.

  The duke shrugged. “I delight in the idea of seeing you ousted from the succession by your own son.”

  Elizabeth whimpered. Her husband favored her with a sneer. “Why do you think I insisted we went to Paris? I knew he would come. I knew how he felt about you. How could I not? I threw you together, and it worked. Didn’t it?” Droplets of spittle sprayed from his lips.

  Elizabeth took a deep breath, her bosom rising above the tight lacing of her gown. “If you mean that I discovered t
hat my love for him had never died, then yes.”

  “Put it how you like.” He moved closer, lifted his finger and poked the underside of her chin, forcing her head up. “And if this child is a girl, I expect Joshua to do his duty again. But listen to me, Madam. You are my wife. You will not shame me in public, and you will not see him if I do not permit it. You—” he turned his head, addressed his brother. “You will come home. We will be reconciled and you will live quietly, close to us but never in the same establishment. Your allowance will recommence if you behave yourself.”

  “And act as the family stud?” Joshua said. “No, I thank you. Elizabeth, will you stay with me?”

  So there was Elizabeth’s choice. She could go with Joshua, deny her child what her husband would give him or her. Or she could take what she said she’d always wanted; a place in the highest echelons of society, a duchess.

  Delphi almost felt sorry for her.

  Elizabeth opened her mouth, but her husband spoke first. “You will not cuckold me, Madam. You will not escape me. Here in Rome, everybody plots. The place is full of it, from the Vatican to the Palazzo del Re. All I did was to muster some of the hotheads and plant an idea in their heads.”

  That drew everyone’s attention. Adam seemed remarkably calm. “Are you the ringleader of this conspiracy?” Adam asked Beauchamp.

  Beauchamp rolled his eyes. “If you can call it that. I started the ball rolling in London. The plot could prove interesting, a way of distracting the warmongers in London. By the time I reached Rome, the idiots were running around like chickens without heads. I got them into some kind of order, stirred them up and sent them off again.”

  His words dropped into the silence, shattered it.

  “You?” Delphi said. “You’re the ringleader?”

  Beauchamp shrugged. “They will never do it. They spend all their time arguing. It gave them a thrill to plan it, but it won’t happen. They were useful, that was all.”

  “What for?”

  “To serve my purposes. If I delayed the war, I could take advantage of rising prices. A plot like this could hold the commencement up, until I’d bought into the business concerned with it. I am not what you might call a typical Jacobite. But like many here, I look to make a profit from the situation. Then I saw how to kill two birds with one stone.”

  He paused, looked around as if he expected to find admirers. His expression clearly said, “You see how clever I am?”

  “I made sure my brother was at crucial meetings, or in the vicinity. I was not. I sent a note from his mistress to him, and one to Trensom, so that there was a witness. I had no idea you’d dismissed her, but no matter. The note would be enough. Nobody could fail to see that he is the ringleader, the head of the conspiracy.” He smiled, the curve of his lips chilling. “You thought so, did you not?”

  Joshua’s chest heaved, and he took a step away from Elizabeth, towards his brother. “You hate me so much?”

  His brother shrugged. “Not particularly. But you will do as you are told.” He glanced at Adam. “The plotters are even now dispersing into the mists they came from.”

  Frederick had joined them. He gave an exasperated snort. “Which is why I cannot find them.”

  “They’ve served their purpose,” Beauchamp said. “Now, may we end this nonsense?” He looked at Joshua. “If you refuse, if you try to take Elizabeth away, I will have all the evidence of the conspiracy released. You will be put on trial for treason. I will be sorrowful, but loyal, and you will hang. For a crime like attempted regicide, you will be given no leniency.”

  A neat, ugly trap.

  Joshua had no choice. Beauchamp was right. They had no evidence implicating him, and plenty implicating Joshua. Who would have believed anyone could do this, and to his own brother?

  Beauchamp spared a glance for Adam. “You understand. You abandoned the cause your father died for, in order to save your title and estate. I am only doing the same. You’ve found yourself a likely wife there. Ensure she gives you sons, any way you can.”

  Delphi shivered.

  Adam touched her arm. “Come, my love. We are no longer needed here.”

  He was right. They weren’t.

  Frederick and Raffetti chose to take Beauchamp’s transport, since he’d chosen to remain in the villa.

  Once in the carriage, Adam drew Delphi into his arms. “We can do no more,” he said softly. “When we return home, we’ll have this mess cleared up. And we can tell Whitehall that the plot is no hindrance to the king.”

  “How can anyone be that—that self-centered? That intent on their continuance that they would endanger the lives of others?”

  Adam paused, breathed deeply. “A wicked mixture of power and control. He’s right, you know. Even if they’d only killed one member of the royal family, that would have been enough for a major outcry. People would demand answers. With the war delayed, Beauchamp could use that to enrich himself even more.”

  “Do you think dynastically, as he does? Oh, I know you are not so cruel, but do you think of the succession in the same terms?” Not seeing children as children, but as tokens for their families.

  “No. I try to do what is best for me and for the people in my care. All of them from domestics to lawyers, to laborers in the fields. I don’t see myself as indispensable. If I die, Frederick will do just as good a job, if not better. I have cousins who could cope. But not Beauchamp. He is king, an absolute monarch. Nobody is as good as he is, and nobody has the right to be.”

  “Joshua said Beauchamp was poor.”

  Adam kissed the top of her head. “Relatively, sweetheart. I looked into that. When we get home to London, I’ll confirm my initial findings. He’s been playing the stock market and, I suspect, ignoring his advisors. That would only serve to make a person like Beauchamp more angry, and more desperate.”

  She digested what he’d said. Everything fit. “So there is no conspiracy?”

  He sighed, his chest heaving under her head. “Not any longer. Beauchamp created it, and he dispersed it. He’s right when he says that without a leader they will do nothing. The Old Pretender does not support them, so they have nowhere to go.”

  She stirred, tilted her head to look up at him. “Is there nothing we can do?”

  His mouth firmed. “I wouldn’t say that. I can ensure that Beauchamp doesn’t prosper. I can send word to people I trust that Beauchamp is not to be trusted. That’s only the truth. He’s in a weakened position because of his investments. But he will pressure Elizabeth to go back to him, and when she does, Lord Joshua will follow. He loves her.”

  “I know.” She sighed, and leaned against him, taking comfort from his strength.

  “If. You know she’s a proud woman. If she leaves Beauchamp, he will take steps to have his children, or child, put under his care. He could even bring a bill of divorce before Parliament. And she will be persona non grata in society. Do you think she’ll do that? Because I don’t.”

  Delphi had to admit that she didn’t, either. Elizabeth had fought for the position of duchess. The law said she could not marry her husband’s brother, whether divorced or widowed, so she could never have Joshua, and love him openly.

  If she stayed with Beauchamp, she would at least have the chance to see Joshua occasionally. If he agreed to perform as his brother’s stud. That was her only chance. What a terrible fate!

  Weary, Delphi snuggled in, and felt Adam’s arm tighten around her.

  “We, on the other hand,” he said, “have a much better future. We love, and we work, and we are finally together. I love you very much, Delphi.”

  She swallowed, but her response didn’t need thought. “I love you, too. I—”

  She couldn’t say anything more, because Adam’s mouth covered hers, as he showed her exactly how much he loved her.

  And then he showed her more.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Easter, 1758. Kilsyth Castle, Scotland

  “Not too tight!” Delphi complained as her ma
id tugged at the strings of her gown, the ones under her skirt at the back.

  “But, Madam, you will be the center of attention! You cannot be anything but perfect.” How Addison could speak with a mouthful of pins astounded Delphi. But her new maid, a stickler for fashion, suited her very well. Rossi had preferred to stay in Rome, so Delphi had sent to the finest register office in London for another. They had not let her down. Delphi never had to think about what she should wear if she didn’t want to. She had far more important things on her mind. She had begun studying Hadrian, Trajan’s successor, and planned a new book about him.

  Despite Damaris’ pleading to go to the northernmost keep, where she and her husband got the best views in Britain of the night sky, they had elected to celebrate Easter at the house near Edinburgh. Then they could take a ship at Leith and sail down to London, ready for the season. The London season held no fears for Delphi now. Not with the man she loved at her side.

  Adam’s Scottish residence, originally a castle built in the times when Scotland had been a separate country, had been thoroughly renovated. The drafty window spaces were snugly fitted with sash windows, and the rooms comfortably furnished. Plaster ceilings, similar to the one in the villa that she’d used for target practice, covered the timbers, and made the house the perfect place to live.

  Mostly because it had Adam in it.

  Her other concern, that of meeting his mother, had passed painlessly. The dowager duchess had welcomed Delphi warmly. She’d declared she was glad to surrender the keys to the castle, and all the other residencies Adam owned, except for one, where she had chosen to live. She was here in the castle today, because this was a special occasion, and Delphi was happy to see her.

  Addison smoothed the skirt over Delphi’s elegant hoops. Then she came around the front and put the pins to use, fastening her gown to the stomacher beneath. The piece was studded with what Delphi had, at first, assumed were brilliants, but were, in truth, diamonds.