Her Secret Fantasy

by Gaelen Foley

  “I think we may have a few nice necklaces here that your young lady might enjoy—”

  “Wait!” Perusing the velvet trays in the throes of indecision, Derek’s gaze suddenly homed in on the largest, gaudiest, most hideous piece in the shopkeeper’s collection. “Good God,” he murmured in stunned recognition, reaching for it. “May I?”

  The man nodded, slanting him a dubious look.

  “I have seen this before.” His heart suddenly pounding, Derek picked up the large, jewel-encrusted gold brooch in the shape of a rooster.

  Mrs. Lundy’s ugly rooster pin! he thought, mystified. But no, surely it couldn’t be the same brooch. On the other hand, there couldn’t be too many of these around Town. Well, blazes, if it was indeed Mrs. Lundy’s, what on earth was it doing here? He glanced warily at the shopkeeper. “When did you get this?”

  “It came in the week before last. Impressive, isn’t it? One of a kind, I daresay. Are you, er, interested in the brooch, sir?”

  “Actually, I’m more interested in learning the name of the person who brought it in.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry, I am not at liberty to say. It is our policy—”

  “I understand—but I think I know who this brooch belonged to, and knowing how much it meant to her, I’m concerned that it might have been stolen. I mean—”

  “Oh, sir, I am no fencing agent, I can assure you!” the shopkeeper countered at once, looking alarmed. “We do not take stolen goods in this shop!”

  “Perhaps without your knowledge.”

  “Oh, dear.”

  “A simple yes or no would satisfy my mind. Was this piece brought to you by someone called Lundy?” Derek searched his face keenly.

  Frowning, the shopkeeper gave him an uncertain look, then lifted the velvet tray and reached beneath it, taking out a slip of paper. He glanced at it, then shook his head. “No,” he admitted in a confidential tone. “It came in from a Mr. Bates.”

  “Bates,” Derek whispered, furrowing his brow.

  Lundy’s driver.

  CHAPTER

  FOURTEEN

  Actually, Edward, I have no idea who that woman was.

  Over the course of the next two days, Lily’s conscience was uneasy about the performance she had given her suitor upon returning to the picnic, trying her best to look innocent.

  On the other hand, it had not been entirely a lie. It was true—she barely recognized that wanton female in the darkened parlor as herself, Lady Clarissa Balfour’s cool and proper daughter, writhing under Derek Knight’s artful kisses. Good Lord, she’d have been disowned by her mother if Her Ladyship had caught wind of such shameless behavior.

  As for Edward, well, he had tested her loyalty and Lily knew, even if he did not, that she had failed the test dismally. Worse still, she wasn’t even sorry.

  The alarming truth was, the only thing that had stopped her from making love with Derek in that darkened room was that she had been too ashamed to admit to him that she was not a virgin.

  He cared for her.

  His attachment to her had been written all over his handsome face. But if he discovered that she was not really as pure as he imagined, then Lily knew full well she might lose his affection. She wanted him so much that this now put her in an impossible situation.

  At the same time, her intention to marry Edward was now caving in on itself in earnest, crumbling toward its hollow center. Everything felt so precarious now! She knew the time had come to change the set of her sails, just like Derek had jokingly said. But what she wanted most was for them to chart a new course…together.

  Up until now, they had both had their schemes firmly in hand, and neither had been willing to compromise. But what had happened between them in that darkened parlor had made Lily see that what they could have together would be infinitely worth giving up some ground.

  She still refused to pack up and move to India with him—she still believed that a return to war would be the worst possible thing for Derek—but maybe there was some way they could negotiate their way to the middle. There had to be some way to figure it out if they both put their minds to it. Recent developments, after all, were entirely encouraging.

  Obviously, he did not need to attain fortune and glory in order to have love. Lily loved him already. She quite feared she had loved him from the first time she had set eyes on the exotic outsider at that masked ball weeks ago.

  But if his beliefs about what he had to accomplish in life to be worthy of love had proved so false, maybe she, too, had misjudged her own set of obligations.

  Maybe she could forgive herself for her past sins without first having to single-handedly save the family honor. Derek did not know everything about her, but after years of living in a state of self-reproach, the mere fact that someone as wonderful as he could care for her made Lily recall what was best about herself. It made her no longer so eager to punish herself for her sins.

  And it made her see much more clearly that marrying Edward Lundy would indeed be the height of self-betrayal. Which was what Derek—and Mrs. Clearwell, for that matter—had been trying to tell her all along.

  Unfortunately, she was not yet brave enough to cast aside her plans without first finding out if she and Derek would be in accord on this change of direction. He was the brave one. Before she dared let Edward go, she needed to talk to Derek and find out if he was willing for the two of them…to try.

  The outcome she desired was in no way guaranteed, of course. This she understood well. She had already tried once to reach out to him the day she had gone to the stable, and though they had shared some confidences—and feverish kisses—he had soon ordered her to go away. It would take a lot of courage to put herself on the line again, but all she needed now was another chance to approach him with her questions.

  She waited for her opportunity.

  But then, the day after the garden party, Edward showed up at Mrs. Clearwell’s house, and once more, Lily was seized with terrified guilt, thinking he had somehow heard about their adventures on the ottoman. Or worse—that the time had come for him to propose marriage!

  But he had only come by to say that his mother had now left for Jamaica, and that for his part, he’d be going out of Town on business for a few days. Her heart thudding as loud as the bells of Saint Paul’s, Lily had nodded gracefully and wished him a safe trip.

  The moment he had left, she silently cheered the news, realizing that now she’d have the perfect chance to talk to Derek at the upcoming ball without having to worry about Edward seeing them together or getting in the way.

  The future, the money, her mother’s strict expectations—she’d put blinders on to all of it for now, until she learned what Derek wanted to do.

  He had proposed marriage to her, more or less, but he had offered a similar cheeky proposal to Mrs. Coates the night of the concert at Lord Fallow’s, so Lily knew better than to take that very seriously. On the other hand, she had come to realize that oftentimes his roguish jests were only a thin veneer for the deepest truth of his feelings.

  Her uncertainty stretched her nerves thin, but at least the upcoming ball would give her a chance to speak to him.

  The next night, as Lily got ready for the ball, her maid created an intricate style for her hair, pinning it up in coiled sections with an elegant array of jeweled pins, leaving wispy curls around her temples and her nape. For once, Lily took pleasure in the looks she had inherited from her mother. There had been times when she had cursed the face and form that had attracted the unwanted attentions of indecent and predatory males, but every day, that part of her life seemed to recede farther into the past; and now, anything about her that pleased Derek was worthy of her gratitude. Her heart was light.

  A few hours later, she was strolling across the ballroom by her chaperone’s side, covertly watching the throng of guests for any sign of her major, searching for him among the glittering crowd. She nodded to various acquaintances here and there, curtseying to a few of the highest-ranked notables as they
passed, then had to whisk her skirts out of the path of some clumsy gentleman’s thoughtless strides.

  With disaster narrowly averted, she turned away, scanning the ballroom from behind the edge of her fan. Ruefully, she looked for any telltale cluster of beautiful women, knowing she would probably find the rogue at their center.

  Instead, she spotted the other Major Knight leaning against one of the ballroom’s Ionic columns.

  Gabriel Knight was alone, lost in his thoughts, and apparently brooding in the middle of the ball. How different the two brothers were, she thought. Derek was usually the life of the party, while Gabriel just scowled in distraction and looked as though he wished he were somewhere else.

  Lily nudged Mrs. Clearwell, then pointed out the elder Knight. Her sponsor gave her a rueful smile. “Maybe you and I can cheer him up.”

  “We can try,” Lily said with a chuckle. As they walked toward him, her heart was already lifting. As close as the two brothers were, she was sure that if Gabriel was here, Derek could not be far off.

  They greeted the elder Knight and exchanged a few pleasantries, but within moments, Lily could not resist asking. “Where is your brother tonight?”

  “Actually, he is not here.”

  “Oh.” She paused, startled. “Is he coming later?”

  “No, apparently, he’s gone out of Town for a day or two.”

  Lily stared at him. “Out of Town?” That was exactly what Edward had said of his own plans just yesterday. Suddenly, a knot formed in the pit of her stomach. “D-did he say where he was going, by chance?”

  “Not to me. I had an appointment with my physician and when I got home, he had left only the briefest of notes. Some sort of army business, I should think. Is something wrong, Miss Balfour?”

  “No. Thank you. I—” Her words broke off as Lily looked at Gabriel again, her sudden worry swiftly climbing into dread. This could be a coincidence, of course. But if Edward had found out about their parlor tryst…

  Oh, God. Her mind began reeling as all of those inconvenient traits that she had chosen to ignore in Edward came flooding back to the fore.

  The ruthlessness. The brutality.

  “I say, my dear, you’re as white as a sheet.” Gabriel took her arm to steady her. “Are you ill?”

  Lily swallowed hard. She pulled him aside while Mrs. Clearwell, unaware of her distress, exchanged greetings with some acquaintances.

  “What is it?” Gabriel asked in a low tone, passing a probing glance over her panicked face.

  “Major—I think your brother may be in serious danger.”

  “What?”

  She cringed slightly with embarrassment, but forced herself to confess. “We were—together—when we shouldn’t have been. If Edward found out—”

  Gabriel’s dark sapphire eyes narrowed.

  Lily swallowed hard again. “Edward came to see me yesterday and said that he, too, was going ‘out of Town’ for a few days. If he found out about Derek and me—it might be a trap.”

  Gabriel gave her a calm nod, his rugged face deadly serious. “Try not to worry. My brother is quite able to take care of himself.”

  “You don’t understand. Edward doesn’t always—fight fair,” she said with a gulp.

  Gabriel gave her a bolstering smile. “Neither do the Marathas. Wait here. First I will check with his valet. Derek would’ve informed Aadi of his plans. He should be able to tell us where he’s gone.”

  “Major, we have to make sure he’s safe!”

  “We will. Rather, I will. You stay here—”

  “No—I’m coming with you!”

  He frowned. “I don’t know…”

  “I know how to handle Edward.”

  He studied her a second longer. “Just one question. Does my brother know you are in love with him?”

  She drew in her breath. “Has he said anything to you?” she asked gingerly, but Gabriel gave her a chiding half-smile.

  “On second thought, I’m not getting in the middle of that. Come on.”

  Lily grabbed her chaperone’s sleeve and pulled her away from the people with whom she was still engaged in conversation. Tugging her along, she hurried after Gabriel Knight.

  “What’s wrong, dear?” Mrs. Clearwell exclaimed.

  “I’ll tell you on the way,” Lily said grimly.

  In vino veritas.

  In wine, truth—and so, Derek had turned to the venerable grape and the noble hops and barley to try to squeeze the truth out of Ed Lundy about the missing army funds.

  Giving his “friend” Lundy the excuse that he was keen to escape the mounting pressures of the investigation for a day or two and to see a bit of England beyond the city, Derek had suggested this rowdy jaunt, and Lundy had agreed.

  But considering his true, more underhanded intentions, the enterprise was proving to be a bit trickier than he had anticipated, not the least because, by this, the second night of their drunken bachelors’ spree, after God-only-knew how many country pubs, bottles, and hours of overindulgence, Derek was, sadly, not unimpaired himself by the endless flow of liquor.

  Which was to say, in fact, that Major Derek Knight was decidedly drunk.

  Lundy was in considerably worse condition, laughing so hard he was wheezing and thumping the table at Derek’s last sardonic remark. Derek had been relating an exaggerated version of his dread at being accosted in the street weeks ago by Lundy’s henchmen. Lundy simply adored the story, practically falling off his chair and under the table, despite the tavern wenches’ efforts to keep him propped up and spending freely.

  The bevy of buxom barmaids at the smoky Bull’s Head Inn had smelled money from the moment that Lundy and he had walked in and were even now doing their part to intoxicate the men further with their vulgar charms.

  “God’s bones, I thought I was in for a thrashin’!” Derek was saying. “Bloody welcome to London. Where the deuce did you find such a rugged assortment o’ bruisers, anyway?”

  “Ah, most of ’em have been with me from the old days.” Lundy wiped away a tear of laughter and took another deep swig of ale. “Jones, Maguire…”

  “Is it just me or don’t they like anybody?”

  “Oh, they’d probably like these pretty lasses,” he replied with a lusty glint in his eyes as he perused the ample-bosomed redhead who was sitting on the table, trying to entice them by slowly hitching up her skirts to show them the embroidery on her stockings.

  “What about Bates?” Derek asked, with no sign of his true intentions. “What’s his story?”

  Lundy gave a drunken wave of his hand. “Bates and me grew up in the same street since we were boys.”

  “Loyal, then?”

  “Like a brother.”

  Derek nodded, lowering his bleary gaze and doing his best to hide his triumph at this information.

  It was exactly what he had wanted to know—at last.

  Thank God.

  Though bloody foxed, Lundy was still enough on his guard to have shied away from any sneaky questions regarding the committee. But just as Derek had hoped, the man had not anticipated this line of attack nor realized what it signified when he began asking idly about the people Lundy kept around him.

  His henchmen.

  Since Lundy’s rough-looking driver, Bates, had signed for the hideous rooster brooch, Derek had reasoned that it was altogether possible that Bates had stolen the jewel from his employer and pawned it to pocket the money. But in affirming Bates’s loyalty, Lundy had just given him strong reason to suspect that Lundy himself had given Bates the order to hawk his mother’s jewelry. Which, in turn, suggested that Lundy’s loud and constant show of opulence might all be a lie to mask the opposite reality.

  God’s bones, if Lundy was having financial troubles, it had serious implications for the missing army funds.

  “You boys want another pitcher?” another sultry taproom angel interrupted, propping her hand on her waist. Her tightly laced bodice drew their admiration as she waited for their answer, swaying
to the tune of the fife and drum from the rustic musicians in the corner and twitching her skirts in a flirtatious little dance.

  She had her eye on Derek, who watched her in amusement, but Lundy waved a hand for her to bring it on. “Get us somethin’ to eat, as well!” he ordered. “Lord, I fancy a big round arse like that on a woman,” he added as she turned away. The barmaid squealed as Lundy slapped her rear end with hearty laughter to punctuate his point. He turned back to Derek, grinning.

  Charming.

  “More of a leg man, myself,” he said dryly, but of course his mind was still revolving on the possibility of Lundy being behind the army fund’s theft.

  Perhaps he had skimmed the money and lost it, Derek mused. Or perhaps he had invested it in such a way that he was having problems liquidating it. In either case, he surely had to be scrambling to replace the borrowed funds, per Lord Sinclair’s demand and promise of anonymity, to keep his neck out of the traitor’s noose.

  If his current suspicions were correct, then Lundy had obviously wasted Derek’s time and played him for a fool, sending him all over Town to find the embezzler when it was Lundy himself all along. Of course, in regards to Lily, Derek had played Lundy for a fool, as well. His thoughts kept coming back to her, and at the moment, not just because he was besotted.

  Why hadn’t Lundy proposed to the delicious Miss Balfour yet?

  Derek thought of all the times the obnoxious Bess Kingsley had intruded upon Lily’s time with Lundy. The worst example had been at the garden party when Miss Kingsley had led Lundy away after that dashed bluebird had so amusingly sprinkled its good luck on Lily. Derek recalled his own displeasure with the way Lundy had taken Bess’s side against poor Lily. What was that that her precious Edward had said?

  “I have to go and talk to Mr. Kingsley. We’ve been workin’ on a deal.”

  Suddenly a keen suspicion began taking shape in his head. A deal, eh?

  If Lundy was indeed secretly embattled with financial problems of some kind, then perhaps the reason he hadn’t asked Lily to marry him yet was because he was keeping his options open, waiting to see if he might have to cast Lily aside and marry Bess Kingsley for her dowry.