by Lisa Kleypas
"He gave me the impression that he has no choice," Lottie replied carefully. "The bargain with Sir Ross..."
"Yes, but that arrangement was never intended to last forever. And now that Nick has married, perhaps Sir Ross will release him from the agreement."
"Why would our marriage have any effect on Mr. Gentry's position at Bow Street?"
Sophia glanced cautiously at the men across the table. "The answer to that is too private-and complicated-to discuss now. May I call on you soon, Lottie? We could have a nice long chat-and perhaps we'll go on a shopping excursion."
Lottie smiled. She had never expected that Gentry's sister would turn out to be so personable. And it seemed that Sophia was quite willing to shed some light on Gentry's mysterious past, which would help Lottie understand him much better. "Yes, I would like that very much."
"Lovely. I expect we shall have great fun."
Overhearing his sister's last remark, Gentry arched a dark brow. "What are you arranging, Sophia?"
"Oh, a simple stroll along Oxford Street," she replied cheerfully.
Gentry snorted. "There are at least a hundred and fifty shops on Oxford. I suspect you'll do more than simply stroll."
Sophia laughed. "You must open accounts for Charlotte at the drapers, and Wedgwood, and naturally the jewelers, as well as the bookshop and-"
"Oh, my lady...er, Sophia," Lottie interrupted uncomfortably, wondering why she didn't seem to realize that their finances were quite meager, compared to the Cannons' affluence. "I'm certain it will not be necessary to open accounts on my behalf."
Gentry spoke to Sophia with a slight smile. "Lottie may have credit wherever she likes. But first take her to your dressmaker. To my knowledge, she has no wedding trousseau."
"I don't need any new gowns," Lottie protested. "Perhaps one nice gown, but that is all." The last thing she desired was for Gentry to spend a great deal on clothes for her. Her memories of her parents' extravagant spending habits, and their resulting descent into poverty, were still very clear in her mind. She had an instinctive fear of spending large amounts of money, and she knew better than anyone how even a comfortable fortune could be squandered in a short time. "Please, I must insist that you don't-"
"It's all right," Gentry interrupted, touching her shoulder. His gaze conveyed the message that now was not the time to debate the issue.
Flushing, Lottie fell silent. His hand lingered at her shoulder, then slid to her elbow, squeezing lightly.
Thankfully, the silence at the table was relieved by the appearance of a footman, who cleared the dishes while another set out plates of dessert and tiny glasses of sweet wine. The dessert plates were arranged with delicate biscuits and pineapple cream served in cunning little glazed pots.
Sir Ross introduced a new topic of conversation concerning some recently proposed amendments to the Poor Law, which both he and Gentry supported. Surprisingly, Sophia offered her own opinions on the subject, and the men listened attentively. Lottie tried to conceal her astonishment, for she had been taught for years that a proper woman should never express her opinions in mixed company. Certainly she should say nothing about politics, an inflammatory subject that only men were qualified to debate. And yet here was a man as distinguished as Sir Ross seeming to find nothing wrong in his wife's speaking her mind. Nor did Gentry seem displeased by his sister's outspokenness.
Perhaps Gentry would allow her the same freedom. With that pleasant thought in her mind, Lottie consumed her pineapple cream, a rich, silky custard with a tangy flavor. Upon reaching the bottom of the pot, she thought longingly of how nice it would be to have another. However, good manners and the fear of appearing gluttonous made it unthinkable to request seconds.
Noticing the wistful glance Lottie gave her empty dish, Gentry laughed softly and slid his own untouched dessert to her plate. "You have even more of a taste for sweets than little Amelia," he murmured in her ear. His warm breath caused the hair on the back of her neck to rise.
"We didn't have desserts at school," she said with a sheepish smile.
He took his napkin and dabbed gently at the corner of her mouth. "I can see that I'll have a devil of a time trying to compensate for all the things you were deprived of. I suppose you'll want sweets with every meal now."
Pausing in the act of lifting her spoon, Lottie stared into the warm blue eyes so close to hers, and suddenly she felt wreathed in heat. Ridiculous, that all he had to do was speak with that caressing note in his voice, and she could be so thoroughly undone.
Sir Ross studied the pair of them with an all-engulfing glance. "Gentry, there is a matter I would take up with you. Undoubtedly there are better ways to reveal my thoughts concerning your future, but I confess that I can't think of them. Your circumstances are unusual." He paused and smiled ruefully. "That is an understatement, of course. The twists and turns of your life have been nothing if not bizarre."
Gentry sat back with languid grace, appearing relaxed, but Lottie sensed the apprehension that coiled inside him. "I haven't asked you to consider my future."
"I have, nonetheless. During the past three years that I have followed your career-"
"Followed?" Gentry interrupted dryly. "More like manipulated, meddled, and interfered."
Inured to semantics after so many years on the bench, Sir Ross shrugged. "I've done as I thought best. Bear in mind that in my dealings with you, I've also had Sophia's interests to consider. She is the only reason I kept you from the gallows. She believed there was potential for goodness in you. And though I didn't see it back then, I am willing to admit now that she was right. You are not the complete villain I thought you to be."
Gentry smiled coolly, aware that he was being damned with faint praise. "In return, let me say that you are not completely the hypocritical cold fish I thought you to be."
"Nick," Sophia scolded, and laid her slender hand over Sir Ross's large one. "My husband has never had a hypocritical thought in his life. And as for his being a cold fish, I can assure you most definitely that he is not. Furthermore-"
"Sophia," Sir Ross interrupted softly, "you don't have to defend me, my love."
"Well, you're not, " she insisted.
His hand turned palm up to grip hers, and for just a moment the pair stared at their interlaced fingers with a shared pleasure that seemed unspeakably intimate. Lottie felt a peculiar ache in her chest. What must it be like to love that way? The two of them seemed to take such enormous delight in each other.
"All right," Gentry said impatiently. "Let's get to the point, Cannon. I have no desire to spend my entire wedding day with you."
That elicited a grin from the former magistrate. "Very well, I will try to be succinct. Ever since you joined the Bow Street force, Sir Grant has kept me informed of your accomplishments; the detective operations, the work with the foot patrols, the pursuits that you've undertaken at the hazard of your life. But it wasn't until the Barthas house fire that I realized how much you have changed."
"I haven't changed," Gentry said warily.
"You've learned to value others' lives as much as your own," Sir Ross continued. "You've met the challenge I presented to you three years ago, and you've contributed greatly to the public welfare. And now you've even taken a wife. Interestingly enough, she is the kind of young woman you might have married had circumstances not deprived you of your title and position so long ago."
Gentry's eyes narrowed. "I never gave a damn about the title. And God knows I have no use for it now."
The older man toyed with his spoon, wearing an expression befitting a chess player in the middle of a long game. "There is something you've never quite understood about your title. It's yours, whether you want it or not. A title doesn't disappear merely because one chooses to ignore it."
"It does if one chooses to become someone else."
"But you're not someone else," Sir Ross rejoined. "The real Nick Gentry died fourteen years ago. You are Lord Sydney."
"No one knows that."
"That," Sir
Ross said calmly, "is about to change."
Gentry went very still as he absorbed the statement. "What the hell does that mean?"
"After a great deal of deliberation, I decided to begin the process of dignification on your behalf. Recently I explained the particulars of your situation to the offices of the Crown and the Lord Chancellor. Not only did I assure them that you are indeed the long-lost Lord Sydney, I also confirmed that you are financially equipped to manage the title. In approximately a fortnight, the Clerk of the Crown will issue a Writ of Summons, calling you to the House of Lords. At which time I will introduce you publicly as Lord Sydney, at a ball that will be given in your honor."
Gentry shot up from the table, his chair falling back and clattering to the floor. "Go to hell, Cannon!"
Lottie started at the burst of hostility. Gentry reacted as if his very life were being threatened. However, the danger he faced was not the physical peril he was accustomed to...it was intangible, insidious...the one prison he could not escape. Lottie sensed the thoughts that writhed behind his set expression, the way his clever mind analyzed the sudden predicament and considered various ways to evade it.
"I'll deny everything," Gentry said.
Sir Ross made a temple of his hands, regarding him steadily. "If you do, I will respond with depositions from myself, Sir Grant, your sister, and even your wife, testifying to the fact that you have privately confessed yourself to be Lord Sydney. Those, combined with circumstantial oddities such as missing burial records and inconsistent reports of your death, form what is known in English law as afecundatio ab extra -a rare but not impossible occurrence."
Gentry looked as if he wanted to murder the former Bow Street magistrate. "I'll petition the House of Lords to be allowed to renounce the title. God knows they'll be overjoyed to get rid of me."
"Don't be a fool. Do you really believe they would ever allow you to disclaim your title? To their minds, such a renunciation would challenge the very institution of the peerage. They would fear that the distinctions between the classes-no, the monarchy itself-would be threatened."
"You don't believe in privilege based on birth," Gentry shot back. "Why force a damned title on me?I don't want it. "
"This has nothing to do with my political beliefs. This is a matter of simple fact. You are Sydney, no matter what you call yourself. You are not going to be able to overturn seven hundred years of hereditary principle, nor will you be able to avoid your obligations as Lord Sydney any longer."
"Obligations to what?" Gentry sneered. "To an estate that has been held in abeyance for fourteen years?"
"You have a responsibility to the tenants who are trying to eke out a living on ramshackle government-managed lands. To the House of Lords, where your seat has gone vacant for two decades. To your sister, who is obligated to keep her relationship with her own brother a secret. To your wife, who will enjoy far more respect and social advantage as Lady Sydney than she ever would as Mrs. Gentry. To the memory of your parents. And to yourself. For half of your life you've been hiding behind a false name. It is time for you to acknowledge who you are."
Gentry's hands clenched. "That's not for you to decide."
"If I don't force the issue, you'll spend the rest of your life avoiding it."
"That is my right!"
"Perhaps. But regardless, you will find it impossible to remain a runner. Sir Grant concurs with my opinion, and therefore he will no longer require your services at Bow Street."
A wash of color spread over Gentry's face. His throat worked violently as he realized that his days as a runner had just come to an end. "Then I'll spend my time taking private commissions."
"That would be a novelty, wouldn't it?" Sir Ross asked sardonically. "The crime-solving viscount."
"Nick," Sophia broke in softly, "you know what Papa and Mama would have wanted."
He appeared bitter and miserable, and above all, outraged. "I've been Nick Gentry too long to change."
Sophia replied with great care, seeming to understand why he would consider it impossible. "It will be difficult. No one would deny that. But you have Lottie to assist you."
Nick did not spare Lottie a glance but made a scornful sound.
"Lottie, dear," Sophia said with a gentle inflexibility that betrayed the strong will beneath her delicate facade. "How many years did you attend Maidstone's?"
"Six," Lottie said, casting a wary glance at her husband's hard profile.
"If Maidstone's reputation holds true, those six years were filled with an education that included rigorous training in deportment, grace, the art of polite entertaining, the skills of household budgeting and management, the elements of style and good taste, the rituals of morning calls and after-dinner assemblies...the thousands of little points of etiquette that separate the first tier from the other layers of society. I suspect you could easily regulate a household of any size, no matter how large. No doubt you were also taught how to dance, ride, play a musical instrument, speak French and perhaps a smattering of German...am I mistaken?"
"You are correct," Lottie said shortly, hating the sudden feeling that she was part of the trap that was closing around Gentry. He was being forced to become something he had no desire to be, and she understood his feelings all too well.
Nodding in satisfaction, Sophia turned to her glowering brother. "Lottie is a great asset to you. She will prove invaluable in helping you adjust to your new life-"
"I'm not going to adjust to a damned thing," he growled and threw a commanding glance to Lottie. "Come, we're leaving. Now."
She rose automatically, and Sir Ross stood as well. Troubled, Lottie glanced at her brother-in-law. There was no glint of victory in his eyes. She did not believe that his motives had anything to do with vengeance or ill will. She was certain that Sir Ross-and Sophia-thought it quite necessary that Gentry reclaim his former identity. She longed to discuss the matter with them, but it was clear that Gentry was barely maintaining his self-control. Any other man would have been gratified to recover his title, his lands, and family possessions. However, it was obvious that to Gentry this was a nightmare.
Lottie held her silence during the carriage ride home. Her husband was utterly still, trying to contain his explosive outrage, and most likely struggling to comprehend the suddenness with which his life had changed. Not unlike her own mood upon leaving Stony Cross Park, she thought wryly.
The moment they arrived at the house on Betterton Street, Gentry practically leapt from the carriage, leaving Lottie to accept the footman's help in descending from the vehicle. By the time she reached the front door, he was nowhere to be seen.
The housekeeper was in the entrance hall, her perplexed expression betraying that she had just seen Gentry storm inside the house.
"Mrs. Trench," Lottie said calmly, "did you happen to see where Mr. Gentry went?"
"I believe he is in the library, miss. That is...Mrs. Gentry."
Good Lord, how strange it was to be called that. And it was stranger still to contemplate the very strong possibility that before long she would be called Lady Sydney. Frowning, Lottie glanced from the staircase to the hall leading toward the library. Part of her wanted to retreat to the safety and seclusion of her room. However, the other part was irresistibly drawn to find Gentry.
After Mrs. Trench took her bonnet and gloves, Lottie found herself walking to the library. She knocked at the closed door before entering. The library was paneled in dark cherrywood, and fitted with carpets woven with gold medallions on a brown background. Multipaned windows stretched up to the top of the ceiling, which was at least eighteen feet high.
Gentry's broad-shouldered form was at one of the windows, his back tensing visibly as he heard her approach. A brandy snifter was clenched in his hand, the delicate bowl of the glass looking as if it might shatter in his long fingers.
Lottie hesitated beside one of the towering cherrywood bookshelves, noticing that the library was strangely bereft of volumes.
"Your library i
s nearly empty," she commented.
Gentry stood at the window, his stare brooding and vacant. He tossed back the remainder of his brandy with a stiff-wristed motion. "Buy some books, then. Fill it from floor to ceiling if you like."
"Thank you." Encouraged by the fact that he had not yet told her to leave, Lottie ventured closer. "Mr Gentry..."
"Don't call me that," he said in a burst of irritation.
"I'm sorry. Nick." She drew closer to him. "I wish to correct something that Sir Ross said-you have no responsibility to make me Lady Sydney. As I told you before, I do not care if you are a peer or a commoner."
He was quiet for a long time, then he let out a tense sigh. Striding to the sideboard, he poured another brandy.
"Is there any way of stopping Sir Ross from carrying out his plans?" Lottie asked. "Perhaps we might seek some legal counsel-"
"It's too late. I know Sir Ross-he has thought of every possible countermove. And his influence extends everywhere; the judiciary, law enforcement, Parliament, the Crown office...that writ of summons is going to arrive, no matter what the hell I do to avoid it." He uttered an unfamiliar word that sounded quite foul. "I'd like to break every bone in Cannon's body, the insufferable ass."
"What can I do?" she asked quietly.
"You heard my sister, didn't you? You're going to play lady of the manor and help me pretend to be a viscount."
"You managed quite well at Stony Cross Park," she pointed out. "You gave a convincing appearance of nobility."
"That was only for a few days," he said bitterly. "But now it appears I'll have to play the role for the rest of my life." He shook his head in furious disbelief. "God! I don't want this. I'm going to kill someone before long."
Lottie tilted her head as she regarded him speculatively. No doubt she should fear him when he was in this mood. He did indeed look as though he was ready to commit murder, his eyes gleaming with bloodlust. But curiously she was filled with sympathy, and even more than that, a sense of partnership. They were both floundering, both facing a life they had neither planned nor asked for.
"How did you feel at Stony Cross Park, when you introduced yourself as Lord Sydney?" she asked.