Natalia’s Secret Spinster’s Society (The Spinster’s Society) (A Regency Romance Book)

by Charlotte Stone

  There was another lapse of silence and then Lorena narrowed her eyes. “I don’t believe you.”

  Calvin sighed. “Ten men died that night.”

  “And a woman,” Frank reminded him.

  Calvin looked at his brother and nodded. “Eleven. One for each. One shot. One chance.” He looked his wife Alice to find her watching him with new eyes.

  Lorena said again, “I don’t believe it. I don’t believe a group of boys could take on that many men.”

  “The men thought the same,” William said. “But we did it.”

  Leah rested a hand on his arm, her eyes full of tears, but she said nothing.

  Lorena stood and crossed her arms. “No, this is not the secret. I want the truth.”

  Emmett walked over to her and grabbed her arms. “We’re not lying, Lorena. This is the truth. We murdered to save Julius.”

  “It’s the reason we don’t add members to the Brotherhood,” Morris said. “We are bound by blood.”

  Sophia stared at Morris. “I… but you were so young. Why didn’t you simply tell someone?”

  “Who would believe us?” Julius asked. “We were boys. My uncle was magistrate. The watchmen of the village worked for him.”

  “You were a marquess,” Lorena said.

  “Whose mother was known to have madness.” Julius crossed his arms. “They suspected me to have it as well.” He glanced at someone at the table, but William couldn’t tell which lady the look had gone to. “We had to deal with it on our own.”

  “So, you killed them?” Florence asked, staring at Rollo. “I’m with Lorena. I find it hard to believe.”

  “I don’t doubt it,” Christin said. She went over to Aaron and wrapped her arms around him. “I always knew you were a protector. I simply didn’t know…”

  He touched her cheek. “I’d have killed Jack Peck if you’d have allowed it.” Jack Peck had been Christin’s brother-in-law. He’d killed Christin’s sister and had been ready to exploit Christin’s young niece for more money.

  Lorena’s eyes were closed when Emmett pulled her into an embrace. “So, it’s over? That’s it?” She lifted her head to look at her husband. “Is that the only secret? Because if it is, I can live with it. I don’t know what I’d do for the Spinsters.”

  Emmett’s expression was grim. “There may have been a few casualties over the last few years.”

  Lorena opened her mouth, but Emmett placed a finger over it. “The point is, we will do anything to defend ourselves and those we count our own. There is no other way.”

  Leah’s hand slid away, but William caught it.

  Lorena broke from Emmett and went to Julius. She pulled him into a tight hug. “I’m so glad you’re alive, Julius… and glad Emmett was there to protect you.”

  Julius placed a hand on her hair. “Don’t be mad at him. This was my secret. I didn’t want anyone to know. You can understand that, can’t you?”

  Lorena nodded her head. “You’re not murderers.”

  Alice agreed. “You defended yourselves. That is all.” Calvin was holding her hand.

  The couples shared a moment. William held Leah’s eyes and saw what he should have recognized before. He had so many questions.

  Taygete spoke to her before he could. “You'd better get used to the madness around here, dear. We’re quite unusual.”

  William spoke then. “Oh, but Leah already knew his story, because she was there.”

  The eyes in the room all fell on Leah.

  She tried to take her hand back, but William wouldn’t let her.

  “No more lies,” he told her and then, letting her go, he reached out and placed his hand on her wig. Her fingers grabbed his wrist and her eyes widened, but she didn’t fight him.

  He gently removed the blonde disguise from her head. Even though he had known what he would find underneath, he was still caught off guard. Thick red tresses fell down and about her shoulders. The front was bathed in a gold that made her hair so distinctly her. It made her appear like a fox.

  Which meant she could only be one person.

  “Natalia.”

  The room turned to Julius, since he’d been the one to speak. He stood opposite her. His violet eyes went over her hair and then her face. “Is that you?”

  What happened next caught William off guard just as much as the rest of the room. Leah picked up her knife and jumped from her chair. William reached for her, but she brought up the blade and backed against the wall.

  There was a wildness in her gold eyes that made William wonder if she was mad.

  Was she?

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  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

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  Leah’s heart was pounding in her ears, and she found it hard to focus her vision, much less hear what was being said in the room. One of the men moved toward her and she turned toward them. It was Morris, but his wife Sophia pulled him back, watching her with a guarded expression.

  Someone kept calling her by the name she’d not heard on anyone’s lips but her brother’s for a very long time. She looked around the room and searched for the closest door, but she was trapped.

  She should have been quicker. She should have known she would need to escape and planned better.

  Damn her! Why had she thought the pudding hilarious? Why had William only shared it with her? It was supposed to be a joke! He would wonder who’d planned it and the men would be none the wiser.

  Now everything was ruined.

  She swung the knife around her to make sure no one came near, but no one was moving. Some of the men had pushed their wives behind them, but that was all.

  “Tally?”

  She turned but didn’t know who’d spoken. They were going to kill her. They’d protect their own. She’d been there. She knew too much. She was forever a living liability to their happiness. She—

  “Natalia.” She turned to look at William and then something else caught her eyes.

  Julius. He hadn’t moved, but there were tears in his eyes as he stared at her. His unequivocal beauty crumbled under a look of pure grief.

  She momentarily forgot about defending herself as she stared at him. “Don’t cry, Julie. I took care of her.”

  “Who?” he asked.

  “The blackmailer.” She dropped the knife to her side. “I stopped Sarah from telling anyone about that night.”

  He stared at the hand that held her only weapon. “Did you…”

  Kill her?

  “No.” She dropped the knife. She wasn’t a killer. She simply wanted to live. “William was there. I didn’t hurt anyone.”

  “She blackmailed her before I got there,” William said, inching toward her as her back hit the wall. “I don’t know what Natalia knows about Mrs. Douglas, but whatever it is had Mrs. Douglas defeated before I even arrived.”

  Julius’ gaze moved from William to Natalia. “Why?”

  At that moment, Natalia didn’t know what came over her, but she lost her ability to speak. Her mouth opened and closed as she fought to say words, but nothing came out. Her body was trembling, and she felt a new and steady flow of tears slide down her cheeks. Her body felt like it was breaking.

  And then it did.

  Her weeping was loud and when arms came around her, she knew they belonged to William.

  She clung to him, soaking his jacket with her tears. Eventually, she found the words, but when she lifted her head, she couldn’t see Julius.

  She couldn’t see anyone. Everyone was gone.

  A hand rested on her shoulder, and she turned to find Julius behind her. He gathered her into his arms and, once again, Natalia couldn’t speak. Her breathing was erratic, and her mind couldn’t seem to grasp onto reality long enough for it to make sense.

  Would Julius kill her now?

  She remembered the blood on her brother. “Don’t
hurt me.”

  His arms pulled her in tighter and he whispered, “I won’t. I would never hurt you, Natalia.”

  She wanted to believe that. She truly did, but Zed had always told her that wasn’t so and now she knew why. Julius had threatened them.

  “Please,” she begged. “Don’t hurt me. I didn’t know.”

  He pulled her away so he could meet her eyes. He was weeping as well. His eyes were bluer with the red rigging them. “Natalia, I…” He seemed to struggle with what to say as well. Then he shook his head. “I didn’t mean it. What I said to Lorenzo. I never meant it.”

  Her mind tried again to put the fragments together. “You… I.”

  He touched her cheeks. “I know why you left. I threatened Lorenzo, but it was only so he’d leave. He didn’t need to see what had taken place. I didn’t want him to see his father that way. I said the only thing I thought would get him to leave. And then I pushed him.” Julius took a step back and stared at his hand. “My hands were covered in your father’s blood.” He cringed. “I covered your brother in his own father’s blood.”

  Natalia understood then. “He tried to kill you, Julius. You had to stop him.”

  He looked at her. “I would never hurt you, Tally. Never.”

  She blinked and took a deep breath. His words brought to an end the thing that had haunted her for most of her life, death at the hands of someone she loved. “And not Lorenzo?”

  Julius’ eyes widened. “Of course not. He’d have fought with me if I’d have let him, but I didn’t want him to.”

  Natalia nodded. She understood so much more than she ever had. She covered her mouth as she thought of what this all meant. Then she looked at Julius. “What does this mean?”

  He tried for a smile. “I hope it means I have my Tally Cat back.”

  She hugged him and recalled all the times she’d done so as a little girl. “Of course, Julie.”

  He kissed her hair and then stroked it. “I still don’t like that name,” he murmured.

  “That’s too bad,” she sighed. “I’ve so many years of utter annoyance to make up for.”

  And she’d start now.

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  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

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  Memories played in William’s mind...

  When Leah tripped outside the Runner’s station at him saying the word ‘vagabond’...

  The ease with which she'd called him ‘Liam’...

  Her reaction to him calling her a queen...

  Those golden eyes...

  How had he missed it?

  William guarded the door and watched as Lorena’s formal butler headed in his direction. “What’s happening?” He looked beyond William and toward the dining room.

  William stared at the butler and said, “I don’t know. What do you think is happening, Lorenzo?”

  “I think you'd better…” Zed’s words trailed off with his anger. Then his eyes widened. “What did you call me?”

  I have a sibling, but not a sister…

  She was so clever. In a way, she’d said she had a brother without actually speaking the words. The word ‘brother’ alone would have worked as a trigger, leading William to imagine what that brother could have possibly looked like.

  Do I need your permission to marry her?

  Zed’s overprotectiveness now aligned with what he should have known all along.

  He’s like a brother to me.

  That’s because he was, in fact, her brother.

  William could only stare at him. “How did you—”

  “Die my hair?” Zed held his eyes, no longer denying the truth. “You simply mix every color together until none of them exist. It’s the same way you’d dye a garment.” He turned away. “I’ll be glad to go blond again. Repeatedly working to maintain the color was growing irritating. Can I enter the room now?”

  “No.”

  Zed looked at him again. “Is she with Julius?”

  William nodded.

  “Is she safe?”

  “I would never do anything to harm her.” Didn’t he know that? “Why the secrecy? Why didn’t you two simply come out and say who you were?” William thought it a strange experience to stare at a boy he’d thought he’d known, now a stranger of a man. He didn’t know what to call him now. Lorenzo? Zed? He didn’t even know how to treat the man. He wasn’t really a servant. He was the grandson of a marquess. The son of a former magistrate and Spanish lady. He was also Julius’ heir until William’s friend married and had a son.

  “We couldn’t say anything to anyone.”

  “Why?” William asked.

  Zed held his eyes. “Because you’re all murderers.”

  William didn’t look away, though he felt the need to. This man’s father had died at their hands. “There was no other way.”

  “I know, but it doesn’t change the fact that if you’d found Sarah Douglas before us, she’d have been buried days ago. And it doesn’t change the fact that you men still have a tendency for violence.”

  He was right. “So, why stay around us? You got your hands dirty that night with Ben as well.” Zed had been the one to find Lorena and lay the kidnapper at Emmett’s feet like a bloody offering. Literally.

  “I stay… stayed because Lorena would allow it and we both know how reckless the Spinsters can be with their safety.” He placed his hands in his pockets. “Leah… Natalia didn’t want you all to have to kill again. I was sent to see how Julius was faring and she came when the matter with Sarah grew out of control.”

  “Yet Julius cut you off from your inheritance. That should have been reason enough to abandon us.”

  You’re right.” Zed narrowed his eyes. “And had it not been for Natalia, I would have, but… when she loves, there is no stopping her.”

  We were only children, but it was love in its own way.

  She'd loved him.

  It was hard to take that he’d managed to make the same extraordinary girl fall in love with him twice. Neither he, Julius, nor the others deserved her loyalty, yet she'd given it even when they stripped her of her pride.

  “I need to speak with her,” Zed said, cutting into his thoughts. “I need to see if she’s all right.”

  “I already told you—”

  A scream from the other side of the door made them both freeze.

  Zed’s eyes widened.

  William turned to the door and, though it opened, his worst thoughts blinded him momentarily from the reality of the situation.

  Then he saw it.

  There was a body on the ground. Tally was safe. Julius was safe.

  Who was the man?

  Julius had a bloody knife in his hands and looked up at Zed and William. “He came after us.”

  “Who is that?” Zed went over and looked at the man. Even now the blood was pooling on the carpet. A gun rested not far from his fingers.

  “I have no clue who he is or how he got in,” Julius said. “But we need to check the rest of the house.”

  “What did he want?” William asked. He reached Natalia’s side and took her into his arm. She was weeping gently, frightened in a place she should have felt safe. How dare he have come after his queen in his own home?

  “He asked for Clara… and you. Revenge for the humiliation in the street that day,” Julius said, taking his own gun from his waist. He never went anywhere without it. Uncle Perry had warned him against it. “This might have to do with her husband.”

  Zed stood up from the body, lifting the gun with him. “Do think there are more in the house? Could Mr. James have come himself?”

  Julius’ eyes widened, and he turned to William. “We could be under attack. Go check the women. I’ll keep Tally safe.”

  William hesitated and met Natalia’s eyes. She was trembling but nodded. “Go, I’m all right.”

  Willia
m and Zed speed across the foyer. They found the Spinsters and Brotherhood in the sitting room. Everyone faced them.

  Aaron straightened, the first to become alert. “What’s going on?”

  “We might be under attack.” William went to the sideboard and opened the drawers. “Get the women behind the furniture. Quietly.”

  There were movement and whimpers, but the noise soon faded.

  “Details,” Morris demanded.

  “There was a shooter in the dining room,” William said. “He’s looking for Clara.”

  “This can’t be happening,” one of the women hissed.

  Lorena said, “Please tell me this is all in jest?” And a second later, “Zed, why do you have a gun?”

  “Quiet,” Emmett hissed.

  Reaching back and up into a secret compartment, William grabbed two pistols. He tossed one to Morris and the other to Rollo, who was the next best shot after him, Morris, and Julius. Emmett, William knew, already carried a gun in his boot. Having Lorena for a wife required it.

  The Duke of Cort checked the barrel as his Sophia looked at him in wonder from her position behind the pianoforte.

  William turned to Zed and Morris. “Go find Clara.” To Calvin and Frank, he said, “I’ve two guns in my desk in the study.”

  “Done.” Calin kissed Alice’s head but didn’t stop to talk, following Frank out the door.

  Alice wrapped her arms around herself and motionlessly watched her husband leave. “Where are you going?” she eventually asked once her eyes rested on William.

  “To find my family and make sure they’re safe.”

  A shot rang somewhere in the house.

  The woman screamed, but then were quieted by the men who were still present. William prayed the shot came from someone he knew.

  Aaron asked, “What have you for me?”

  William looked around the room. There was a sword on one wall and entwined axes on the other. William didn’t keep them around for simple decor. “Choose what you wish.”