The Secrets of a Lady

by Jenna Petersen

  Hannah drew in a sharp breath through her teeth as she shifted position. “Like checking the corners in a room?”

  “Exactly.” Leaning down, Audrey found the hem of her dress.

  “Well, you always were bad at that,” Hannah teased. As Audrey ripped a strip of fabric from her gown, Hannah barked, “What are you doing?”

  “Making a sling for your arm,” Audrey said. “Then I’m going to figure a way out of here. It’s still an hour before Ellison and I are supposed to leave for the final fête of the Jubilee. It will be even longer before Noah and Griffin notice we’re missing unless I get out of here now and let them know the danger.”

  Hannah sighed with resignation. “It’s too bad. I always liked that dress, too.”

  “So did I,” Audrey said as she wrapped the fabric around her friend’s neck, then slowly slid her bad arm through the makeshift sling. “But I like you more. Is the pain very bad?”

  “Pretty bad,” Hannah admitted. “He did some kind of strange twist when he broke it. I swore more than I did in all my years on the streets of London.”

  “He must have enjoyed that.” Audrey gave a nervous laugh as she looked around them for a way out. But there was nothing she could use to free them.

  Things were looking very grim indeed.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  When the closet door opened an hour later to send bright light showering in on the two women, Audrey still had no plan. It was difficult to come up with a way to fight an enemy with no idea what that enemy was preparing to do.

  Ellison took two steps inside the little room and grabbed Audrey’s hair in one steely fist. Before she could fight, he yanked her to her feet and dragged her into the hallway. Pain shot to the roots of her hair and she yelped.

  “Now, my little vixen, you’re coming with me. You’ll want to see what I have in store tonight.”

  “Let me go,” she said through clenched teeth as she wrapped her hands around his wrists to lessen the painful tug on her roots.

  “As for your friend.” He motioned to Hannah. “Quentin, once we’ve departed… kill her.”

  “No!” Audrey screamed even as Ellison dragged her down the hallway toward the stairs. “Hannah!”

  But there was no response.

  “Help me!” Audrey yelled as they passed through the hallways. Chambermaids and footmen ducked their heads as she passed by, going about their work as if Audrey didn’t exist… as if they weren’t watching her being taken to her death with every step.

  “You see,” Ellison said as he dragged her down the stairs. She slipped and stumbled her way after him, banging her shins against the floor and her elbows against the hand railing. “When I hire servants, I choose ones who are loyal to me.”

  She pulled back against him. “Or too cowardly to stop you!”

  “One way or the other,” he said with a chuckle and a shrug. “They won’t rush to your aid, or assist your friend.”

  Tears of horror filled Audrey’s eyes. Hannah was going to die, and probably her, too.

  Ellison took her out a side door and they stood in a narrow alleyway, away from the street where neighbors and friends might see her plight. Just as they reached the curb, a carriage pulled up in front on them and Gregoire, the burly driver from the ball a few nights before, stepped down from the box up top. Audrey noticed the man had an enormous black eye and was missing a few teeth since she’d last seen him. Remembering Douglas’s promise to ‘talk’ with Gregoire about his improper behavior that night, Audrey shivered.

  The man opened the door with a nod for his employer.

  Ellison released her hair. “Step inside, Audrey.”

  “You think I would be so foolish as to get into that carriage on my own?” She folded her arms and glared from one man to the other.

  She was strongly considering running. Griffin’s house was so close she could get there in just a few moments, but the glimmer of a pistol butt in Gregoire’s belt made her stop. A shot at such close range could easily kill her, then she’d have no chance of escape.

  Ellison laughed. “On the contrary, Audrey, it is because I feel you aren’t stupid that I ask you to enter the coach on your own. If you force Gregoire or I to help you, you may not like how it’s done.” His smile fell and eyes narrowed. “Now get in. You’re slowing the operation.”

  Clenching her teeth, Audrey quickly pondered her options. Running was out of the question. Gregoire now had his hand on the pistol grip, she’d never escape before he pulled it out and fired. The last thing she wanted was to be bound or injured in a struggle to stay out of Ellison’s carriage.

  Her only option was to play along and pray she had an opportunity for escape before it was too late. For her, for her brother, for the Prince Regent and especially for Griffin.

  “Fine,” she ground out, lifting the torn hem of her skirt and gripping the door for support.

  Just as she got one leg inside, there was a loud crack from the house. Audrey’s knees went weak and the blood drained from her face. It was a gunshot.

  “Hannah,” she whispered.

  “One less problem for me to worry about. Now in.” Ellison lost his patience and shoved her inside the vehicle.

  Audrey sprawled on the dirty carriage floor, only catching herself with a hand on the low seat. Tossing Ellison a glare, she stumbled up to the seat and sat down. When he’d settled himself in beside her, the vehicle began to move rocking toward the street, then turning toward St. James Park.

  She turned on her companion with her full rage. “Why don’t you just kill me?”

  With a growl, he produced a small pistol from his coat pocket and jabbed it in her face. She could smell the smokiness of the barrel that told her it had been fired recently and recoiled on instinct.

  “Don’t tempt me.”

  Then his temper was gone as fast as it had surfaced and he lowered the barrel from in front of her eyes. “I won’t kill you… yet… because you could still be of some use to me. You made a fool of me Audrey Jordan. You betrayed me. And you, your brother and Griffin Berenger will all pay for that, just as your friend Hannah has already paid.”

  Audrey steeled herself. She wouldn’t give Ellison the satisfaction of her emotions. If she could get out of this mess, she would take a long time to mourn the loss of the best friend she’d ever known.

  Ellison smiled calmly as he looked out the window to the street. “In just an hour’s time, Lord Berenger will get a knock on his door. When it is answered, Hannah’s body will be laying on the stairs, along with a note from me. It will take them some time to decipher my message. Just long enough to set my trap.”

  Audrey drew back in horror. “You’re a monster.”

  His thin lips pulled back from his teeth. “Probably. And this is one monster you should fear. Not many people get to look their killer in the face, Audrey. Enjoy the knowledge of your fate.”

  ***

  Even in the study Griffin and Noah heard the pounding on the door.

  “What on earth is that?” Griffin asked.

  “Sounds like the front door, but if it is, it certainly isn’t a respectable guest. Who knocks like that?” Noah crossed over to the door to open it. He stepped into the hall with Griffin close behind.

  They watched as the annoyed butler sprinted to the door and wrenched it open.

  “My God.” Noah hurried forward.

  Griffin craned his neck to see around his friend and what he saw made his blood run cold. Hannah lay in a heap on the front step.

  In two steps, he was kneeling beside the woman. “Is she injured?”

  The two men exchanged a glance of horror as they both barked out, “Where’s Audrey?”

  Noah slowly rolled the woman over and she opened her green eyes. “Hello Noah,” she said with a weak smile. “Do you think you could pry this gun out of my hands? Ever since I used it to kill that bloke who tried to murder me, I’ve been too frightened to let it go. Now I don’t seem to be able to.”

 
Griffin’s eyes immediately went to her small hands. Sure enough, a pistol was clutched in the grip of her left hand, while her right arm hung useless at her side, held up only be a crude sling made from… from a strip of fabric from the beautiful amethyst gown Audrey had been wearing earlier in the day.

  “Bring her inside!” he ordered as Noah pulled the weapon from the woman’s hand and gave it to a chambermaid who looked as though she was ready to swoon at any moment. “You, get some hot water and some bandages,” he barked to the nearest person. “You, fetch a doctor!”

  Following Noah into the parlor, Griffin helped his friend lay the weak woman across the settee. His heart was racing as he wondered where Audrey was, though he already knew the answer. Ellison. Ellison had her. The only question was, was she in worse shape than Hannah?

  Noah pushed a few sweaty strands of hair from Hannah’s face. “Tell me what happened.”

  She told the story quickly, all the way up until Ellison’s order to kill her.

  “How did you manage to escape?” Griffin nodded to the girl who’d brought them bandages. He handed them to Noah, who removed the sling made from Audrey’s hemline. When he handed the torn fabric to Griffin, the two men locked eyes. Then Noah turned away, his face ashen.

  “I still had one good arm and two legs,” Hannah chuckled. “The poor boy never saw it coming from a woman. I’m afraid he wouldn’t listen to reason once I had the gun away from him, so I had no choice but to shoot him.”

  Griffin couldn’t help but smile at the bravery of the woman lying before him. Though it was obvious she was in great pain, she’d fought like a wildcat and come out the victor.

  “I realize you’re hurting and you just want to give in and sleep,” Noah said gently. “But I need to know one thing. Where is Audrey? Is she hurt?”

  Hannah’s eyes began to glaze over. “He hit her.”

  Griffin winced, hating that the woman he cared for had been hurt. Helplessness was the worst feeling in the world.

  “But is she hurt beyond that?” Noah pressed. “Try to remember.”

  There was a long pause as Hannah seemed to search for words. “He took her away. I could hear her telling him where he could go the whole way down the hall.” Hannah smiled. “One of the men said something about St. James Park.”

  Noah jumped to his feet. “Very good, Hannah.”

  Turning to Griffin, he said, “I need to go find Lord Golding and let him know of the situation. We’ve lost a great deal of time as it is, but we can still assemble a few men and save my sister. You stay here and make sure Hannah is treated by the doctor.”

  “Like hell!” Griffin shook his head. “Either I’m going with you or I’m going to that park. I’m not going to stand here while the woman I…”

  He trailed off and turned away from Noah.

  Noah arched an eyebrow. “The woman you what?”

  “Never mind. The point is, I’m going to help her.” Griffin’s head reeled from new emotions and fear for Audrey’s safety.

  Noah put his hands on his hips. “If you were going to say the woman you love, I must say two things. One, it’s about time you realized this. Two, your feelings are all the more reason for you to stay here. Rushing in with too much emotion could put Audrey in more danger. Leave this to the men who were trained for it.”

  “No! I-”

  Noah scowled. “You’re wasting time. Don’t argue with me.”

  His friend hurried from the room with no further discussion. Griffin glanced down at Hannah, who had slipped into a pain-induced unconsciousness.

  “Fine, my friend,” he muttered as he heard the front door slam and Noah calling for his horse in the courtyard. “I won’t argue. But I never agreed, either.”

  ***

  Audrey had never seen St. James Park so crowded. Thousands of people milled around her, but no one seemed to notice her torn gown or disheveled hair. She’d long ago given up calling for help when she realized most of the crowd thought she was a light skirt paying her vowels with the money she made from drunken revelers.

  “Stop pulling, will you?” she snapped. “You’ll rip my arm out of the socket.”

  Ellison turned to glare at her. “Where you’re going, it won’t make a damn bit of difference.”

  His malicious tone frightened her into silence, but she noticed he didn’t pull her nearly as hard as he had been moments before. They weaved in and out of the crowd, going always forward, but toward what she couldn’t tell. She was just too short to see over the throng.

  Finally they ascended a small hill in the middle of the park and she caught a glimpse of their destination through the trees, a giant, gas-lit pagoda that graced the center of the park. The yellow and black shrine sat on the bridge over the canal where rowboats had already begun the reenactment of the Battle of the Nile. The cheers of the crowd were deafening as they drew nearer, near enough that she could see the pagoda’s blue trim in the moonlight.

  Ellison opened up a small door at the base of the structure and shoved her inside with little fanfare. “In we go.”

  “What are we doing here?” she asked, looking around her as Ellison pulled the door behind them. The pagoda was enormous with a winding stairway that lead to the top high above.

  “Well, you are dying,” he explained with a chuckle as he hurried her to the stairs and urged her up with a series of jabs with his pistol. “And I am about to kill the Prince.”

  “From this distance?” She looked out of the small windows in the structure as they wound their way up floor after floor. “You don’t even have a rifle.”

  “No,” he admitted. “But I’ll give the signal that the games are to begin. Then my men will do the rest.”

  Audrey’s stomach lurched. If it was too late for her, she swore she’d keep Ellison from doing any more harm than he already had. She whirled on him with venom in her eyes.

  “Why? You’re a successful businessman with some level of acceptance in the ton. Why are you plotting to kill the Prince Regent? What will you obtain from all of this?”

  “I wondered when you’d ask me why.” He placed a hand on her shoulder to push her down to a sitting position on the top floor of the pagota.

  She followed his painful order with a glare, but didn’t fight back. Now wasn’t the right time, though it was close. If she could get him talk until he was distracted, she could strike.

  “It’s complicated, my dear,” he said, as he glanced down on the revelers below while he continued to keep an eye on her. “You wouldn’t understand all of it. You were raised in privilege. You never wanted for anything. But I had to raise myself up in the world. My mother was a common whore,” he accentuated the word with a hiss. “My father her ‘protector’ until she told him she was carrying a child. Whatever protection he’d given her departed with him. I swore I would never depend on anyone as long as I lived. I stole to get where I am, I sold my soul.”

  Audrey wrinkled her brow. “But what does that have to do with our future king?”

  He scowled. “The war with France brought me my fortune. It began with the simple buying and selling of commissions in the army. Then I realized there was more that could be done. I ventured into shipping, loading up boats and charging the military to transport them, then hijacking the shipments myself and calling it the dangers of the sea and war. I then sold the materials to the other side. There’s more profit to be made than you realize.”

  She shook her head in disgust. The man was so driven by money that it sickened her.

  “When the war ended in April, most of my wealth was cut off. I still had legitimate businesses, of course, but none brought in the cash I desired. I made contact with a group of men who are trying to bring Napoleon back to power. They agreed to give me an enormous sum of money to assassinate the Prince.” He shrugged one shoulder. “I can’t lose. The nation will go back to war, which is profitable to me, and I receive the bonus this group has offered me.”

  Audrey drew in a sharp breath. “So all t
his…” She waved her hand around the empty building. “The plots, the murder? It’s all for money?”

  “Not you.” He crouched down to touch her face. She moved away, but he grasped her cheeks and held her in place. “What was happening with you was all too real. You offered me position and money, but I also wanted you. But you’ve ruined it all now.”

  With a sigh of disgust, he thrust her face from his hand and strode over to the window again.

  “You won’t get away with this,” she said. “Even if you can kill the Prince, there will be a manhunt for you. You won’t be able to get out of London fast enough.”

  “Except that one of my ships waits for me even as we speak,” he murmured, still looking away from her though she sensed he was concentrating on her very closely. “There will be so much turmoil after the Prince is dead that I’ll have plenty of time to escape. I’ll be in France before anyone realizes what has happened. And then there will be so much infighting over who should rule the country that I’ll be a mere spot in the distance.”

  Audrey frowned at the truth in his words. Princess Caroline and her daughter Charlotte would pick fights with the Dukes. Everyone would rush to marry and produce the next heirs to the throne. The country would be in turmoil.

  “All I need to do is shut off the gas and the plan will be set into motion.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”

  “The pagoda can be seen from all over the park. The second it goes dark, my men will strike,” he said with a smile as he strolled over to the covered flame in the middle of the room. The fire was large enough to hide the gas source beneath.

  As he bent to cut off the source, Audrey leapt to her feet and charged him with a guttural yell.

  “Not unless you kill me first!” she screamed as she threw herself onto the man’s back.