by Fanny Finch
“I am in agreement with the Marquess that you are in imminent danger. I am worried for your safety and therefore, we are going to have a relaxing holiday in Newcastle.”
Lavinia sighed with relief. She did not want to think about either of the men. As it was, she knew she would not be able to rid her mind of the Marquess.
“I do not wish to talk about the Marquess,” she replied . “Why must you tell me this now?”
“Because I do not want you thinking that I am doing this for no reason or to take you away from something you want to do. I know you are anxious to find a suitor. So am I. But your safety comes first.”
Lavinia sighed, sitting on the bed. “I do suppose some time away will do me some good.”
“I just want to help you, Lavinia,” Anna continued in a pleading voice. “I do not want to see you hurt.”
Lavinia nodded, standing up and pulling on the strap to pick up the trunk. Anna shook her head and waved her hand at it. “Leave that here. Send the servant up for it. You do not need to be lugging something that heavy around. Is it all you will bring?”
“I have a bag here with a few things I want to keep with me.” Lavinia lifted her arm to show Anna a bag dangling from her wrist. Anna smiled.
“Good thinking. All right, we are going to have fun for the next few days and no complaining. We are happy, am I right? We are happy.”
Lavinia had to laugh. Her friend’s exuberant positivity made her feel giddy and energetic. She nodded. “I am ready, Anna.”
“Come on.”
Lavinia followed Anna through the doorway and down the stairs. She instructed the butler to go up and get the bag to which he nodded and smiled.
The coach was waiting outside. Anna pulled on a light jacket and adjusted her bonnet to make sure it was on straight. Anna looked through the window and leaned back and forth, looking to the left and right.
“I do not see Henry,” she murmured. She looked at Lavinia. “Do you see him out there, Lavinia? Is he in the coach already? Surely not.”
Lavinia bent and looked through the window but turned her eyes back to Anna, shaking her head. “He is not out there.”
“He must be in the library or the parlor. He is not in a very good mood this morning.”
Lavinia nodded, remembering the man had stayed up late with his friends.
“He is probably in the parlor,” she said. “I know he must have his morning tea and perhaps he overslept.”
Anna nodded. “I am ready to go. Do you want to go fetch him?”
Lavinia raised her eyebrows. “You wish for me to go get him? When he is in a foul mood?”
Anna grinned, sheepishly. “He will not be rude to you. As his sister, he is often rude to me. I do not want to be hurt right now.”
Lavinia frowned. That was not the kind of man she would marry. Anna in no way deserved his or anyone’s ire. “I will go get him,” she said in a determined voice.
She turned away from Anna and went down the hallway toward the parlor door. It was cracked, indicating someone was in there. She pushed it open and looked in, directing her eyes immediately toward the bar by the window.
Sir Henry was standing there, a cup of tea in one hand while the other gripped the end of the bar. One hand was pressed against his forehead and his face was lined with pain. He had taken the time that morning to brush his hair but had missed a small strand in the back that was sticking up.
Lavinia pushed away the urge to fix it for him. She stepped into the room, leaving the door wide open.
“Sir Henry? We are ready to go. Are you all right?”
Sir Henry squinted at her. “Yes, thank you for your concern. I have a smashing headache. I am merely tired.”
“I imagine so. When I sleep too long, I find that I wake up with a headache at times.”
“Would you care for a cup of tea?”
Lavinia shook her head. She could not help feeling a bit sorry for Sir Henry. He looked in bad shape. If he did not sleep on their ride in the coach, she would be shocked. His head must be truly hurting him for his face to be so contorted.
“I do hope your head gives you some relief soon, sir. I will be waiting outside in the coach with your sister.”
“Miss Bronson,” Sir Henry called out to her when she turned away. She looked back at him before turning back.
“Yes, Sir Henry?”
“I must apologize for my behavior during our last encounter. It was wrong of me to take such liberties with you. I hope you will accept my apology.”
Lavinia raised her eyebrows. Sir Henry had wanted to kiss her. Sir Franklin had tried to touch her inappropriately. The only man who was not trying to seduce her was the one she wanted. She pushed the Marquess from her mind and focused on what Sir Henry was saying.
“It is quite all right, Sir Henry. I accept your apology.”
He nodded and then looked like it hurt his head to do so. He lifted one hand and pressed it into his forehead. After pressing his eyes closed tightly, he opened them and focused on her again. “I do not wish for our trip to be tainted with bad feelings, Miss Bronson. Since I will be accompanying you and my sister, I would like comfortable and peaceful feelings, if this is possible for you after my behavior.”
Lavinia shook her head. “You must think no more about it, Sir Henry. I am grateful that you have apologized. I am sure the three of us will have a lovely time in Newcastle.”
“Have you been there before?”
Lavinia shook her head, wondering if they were going to stand there all day and talk or go out to the coach in the sunshine and fresh air. “It has been some time. I cannot even remember the last time. I was too young to form any real memories of the place.”
“I am sure we will make some better memories for you to cherish this time around.” Sir Henry tried to smile but Lavinia was a little uneasy with the words he used. She pushed away the feeling, thinking it was a result of the Marquess’ warning to her.
She would be cautious with Sir Henry, simply because the Marquess had said to be. There was some reason for his insistent warnings. She had not quite figured out what that reason was yet but she would. Someday, she would know why he was doing the things he did.
She turned to the door and hurried out, calling back that she would be waiting for him in the coach with Anna. He called back that he would be right out.
Lavinia wanted to spend as little time alone with Sir Henry as possible. Knowing how he felt about her made her feel vulnerable. If she was too nice to him, he might think she was developing feelings for him. But if she was standoffish, she might upset him and bring out his moody, dark side. That was a side she did not enjoy.
She had only seen him that way a few times and did not wish to see it again.
She was thankful that she finished dressing and was out the door before he came out of the parlor. She trotted across the porch and down the steps. The footman was waiting to help her into the coach, where Anna was seated.
Anna looked relaxed.
“Here you are, Lavinia. Where is my brother? He is taking his time, is he not?”
“He is,” Lavinia replied, stepping up into the coach. “But he will be out here soon, I am sure. He was making a cup of tea to clear his head.” She smiled at Anna.
Anna nodded. “I agree. It is a tradition for him. I fear someday, he will turn into a cup of tea from drinking it so often!”
They both chuckled softly.
Lavinia looked through the window as she settled her skirts around her. Sir Henry was coming through the door, placing a tall grey hat on his head that matched his grey suit. He looked dashing, despite the night he had spent playing cards.
Lavinia was sure if he set his sights on another woman, he would find success with someone else. But it would not be her. She had someone in her heart already. No matter how she fought it, she knew the feeling would win in the end.
Chapter 16
Myles walked down the busy street, dodging people as they passed. He tried not to
notice how many people there were. He recognized many, others he did not.
He had taken the liberty of having Anna send him a note when they left with Lavinia. It eased his mind to know she was not in London. He was meeting with Mr. Gentry in a local shop, with the intention of telling him to focus more attention on Sir Franklin.
He had not told Lavinia much of what he had observed that night at the dance. He recognized the look on Sir Franklin’s face when he looked at Lavinia. It was one of lust and greed. He wondered if Lavinia mistook that look for one of love. It did not seem to him that she did.
When she had gone to the dance floor, Lavinia had looked much more confident than when she left it. He had watched her touch her forehead as if she was about to faint and pull away from Sir Franklin with clear intent.
Sir Edward’s warning words rang in his ears. There would be those who would come after Lavinia’s hand as snakes in the grass, a wolf in sheep’s clothing. He was not to trust anyone. Lavinia was not to trust anyone.
How Myleswished he could just tell Lavinia what her father had told him.
A sudden shove to the right sent Myles stumbling into the busy street. He stepped back, out of the way of an oncoming carriage. The horses bucked up and barely missed smashing him in the face with their hooves.
He was back up on the walkway in moments, peering through the crowd with angry eyes. A few people had stopped or were looking at him with concern as they passed but he saw no one who looked guilty of the shove.
Anger flashed through him. This was the second time he had a narrow miss. First he nearly gets shot to death during Jasper’s hunting trip and now this?
He hated to think his friend could be responsible for anything that was happening to him. It was clear something was going on in Jasper’s life that he was not telling Myles.
Sir Franklin was threatening Jasper – or so Myles had been told. Why would he threaten Jasper, if there was no obvious reason to do so? Had Sir Franklin seen them together or had some knowledge Myles did not have? It had made Myles set his sights on Sir Franklin as the clear and obvious threat.
Was it a possibility that Jasper was not telling the truth? That he himself was the threat and merely made up the threat coming from Sir Franklin to deflect attention away from himself?
It did not make sense to Myles. That was not in his friend’s character.
But the last time Myles had spent any time with Jasper, he did not seem like the same man. There seemed something more bothering him than just being threatened. Myles did not know Jasper to back away from a fight.
It just did not make sense.
Myles hurried to the tavern thinking it was probably not a good idea to meet with Mr. Gentry in public when it was quite possible that someone might be following him and watching his movements.
He was not to meet with Mr. Gentry for half an hour. He went into the tavern and went straight to the most isolated table. A young girl in an apron came to take his order.
“I do not wish to place an order,” he said in a low voice. She looked up at him, scanned him up and down and then dropped a small curtsy, easily deducing he was not a commoner.
“As you wish, m’lord. I can come later.”
“No, I won’t wish to place an order later either. It is a favor that I seek.” He pulled a gold coin from his pocket and set it on the table in front of him. “If you see a man, just taller than me, beard and mustache, brown with gray flecks at the temples who answers to the name Gentry, tell him to go to the Marquess’ house. Will you do that for me?”
“Aye, m’lord,” the girl answered, eyeing the gold coin.
“Thank you.”
“Aye, m’lord,” the girl repeated. She flashed a crooked smile at him and he returned with one of his own.
He stood up and hurried out the door, noticing when the girl reached up and snatched the gold coin from the table, covering it in flour.
***
A few hours later, Mr. Gentry hurried into Myles’s study, a frantic look on his face.
“Sir,” he said in an urgent voice. “I have uncovered something you will be interested in.”
Myles, who had been standing at a bookshelf, an open book in his hands, looked up at the man. He closed the book and pushed it back into its place.
“What is it, Mr. Gentry?”
“I know you have been wanting more information about Sir Franklin Ashdown. I have found a woman who knows him from several years ago. She was a servant for the family for some time. I believe we can speak with her.”
“I will speak with her. Why would she object?”
Mr. Gentry shook his head. “She was not treated well, my lord, and was dismissed from their services only a few months ago, despite the problems she had with them. From what I heard, my lord, there is another side to this story.”
“And only she can tell it,” Myles mused.
Mr. Gentry nodded. “Aye.”
Myles nodded. “Do you know where she lives?”
“Yes, I have her address.”
“Do you think she will be there if we visit right now?”
“I cannot guarantee it,” Mr. Gentry responded. “But from what I was told, she does not leave her home very often anymore. It is a small cottage on the west side of London.”
“She lives there alone?”
“I believe so.”
Myles reached across the desk to the hat rack and took down his jacket. “We must go now then.”
Mr. Gentry turned around. “Yes, my lord.”
It was a full hour later when Mr. Gentry and Myles stepped up to the door of the little cottage. Mr. Gentry knocked and they waited patiently until it was opened by a frail-looking petite woman who looked like she felt much older than she was.
Myles would have pegged her at about thirty years old but when she opened the door to them, she looked defeated and unhappy.
Mr. Gentry introduced himself and Myles, telling the woman they would like to ask her some questions.
“What is it about?” the woman asked, looking suspicious.
“It is about Sir Franklin Ashdown,” Myles replied, pulling in a deep breath. “I believe you worked for their family?”
The woman looked crestfallen. She cast her eyes down for a moment before looking back up at him. “I do not wish to speak of my time there, my lord. Must I?”
Myles tried to use a gentle voice with her. “It would be most helpful if you would, Miss.”
The woman took a step back, allowing Myles and Mr. Gentry to enter. Myles immediately noticed she was walking with a limp. Concern for the young woman slid through him.
“Please, sit,” the young woman said, holding out her hand. “And please, if you will, my name is Angeline. Miss Angeline would be fine.”
Myles nodded, taking a seat near the door. Mr. Gentry chose one on the other side of the room, allowing Angeline to sit in between them in a third chair.
Myles leaned forward, giving her an inquisitive look.
“What can you tell me about the Ashdowns, Miss Angeline?”
“I am reluctant to speak of them, my lord,” Angeline said in a solemn voice. “I was not happily dismissed from their service. By the time I did leave, mind you, I was happy to go. But the situation I found myself in did not lend to any good will toward me by that family.”
“Please go on. I will not speak of your business to anyone. Neither will my friend, Mr. Gentry.”
Angeline moved her eyes from one man to the other, hesitating before she spoke. “I was summarily dismissed from the Ashdown service and rejected by the family. I was, at the time, pregnant with Sir Franklin’s child.”
Myles felt a twist of tension in his chest. He had expected Sir Franklin to be a crude man but not a complete rake.
“I was treated badly by Sir Franklin in the end and was unable to keep the child. When the family found out about his behavior, as well as mine, they decided to turn it all on me. I cannot find work and now must survive on the handouts of others. Thankfu
lly, this house belonged to my parents and I do not pay to live here. But I have little since I was sent away from the Ashdowns. I do not like to talk about them.”
She lowered her head.
“It was not a good time in my life.”
Myles felt sorry for Angeline. The woman did not just look defeated. She was defeated.
“Please, Miss Angeline,” Myles said quietly. “We are not here to harm you. Please tell us why you are so frightened of Sir Franklin.”