The Duke Conspiracy

by Astraea Press

  “It is possible that he might know of her involvement in trying to thwart whatever schemes he has gotten up to.”

  Lord Smythe had finally marshalled his logic and looked at the duke with a cold, assessing stare. “How does it come to pass that you have knowledge of this situation and that you are the one who is coming to me with these suspicions of my daughter's absence? Perhaps it is you who has made off with her. Are you trying to perpetrate another Smythe tragedy at the hands of a Wrentham?”

  Alex could feel the anger rising in the back of his throat at the baron's words. Making every effort to reign in his temper, he repeatedly reminded himself that getting into a brawl with the older man would solve nothing, even if it would relieve some of his pent up frustrations.

  Through his gritted teeth, Alex tried to speak as respectfully as possible as he said, “It was not my brother's fault that your son was killed in battle, my lord.” Seeing the baron was about to protest hotly, the duke hastened to continue. “In any case, that is far from the point of my visit. I can assure you that I would never do anything to harm your daughter. Rosamund was my dearest friend before our mutual tragedies. Despite the estrangement, I would still never intentionally hurt any lady, let alone her. I would do anything in my power to ensure her safety, which is exactly why I have bothered coming here to tell you about my concerns. If you do not wish to listen to what I have to say, that is your prerogative, my lord, and I will leave you to your own devices. But as soon as I leave here, I have every intention of searching for her. I will tear apart this entire city if I have to, but I will ensure the safe return of your daughter.”

  The duke's impassioned declaration had arrested the baron's attention and he was once again eyeing his guest speculatively. “I am once again prompted to ask why you are so very concerned about this matter. She may have been your best friend once upon a time, but that is surely no longer the case.”

  Alex did not want to get into the details of the meetings he and Rose had been having with her father. “I feel as though I am partially responsible for her predicament as her interference with Broderick was somewhat motivated by her concerns for my welfare.”

  “How could you possibly know that?” Lord Smythe demanded.

  Alex could feel the heat rising in his cheeks but he tried to avoid the subject. Making as if to rise he began, “If you do not wish my presence in your home, I will be glad to take my leave. I merely came by to tell you that I am very much afraid for your daughter's safety.”

  Before the baron was able to respond to Alex's words, the gentlemen were interrupted by a commotion in the foyer. Lady Smythe could be heard demanding of the butler. “Is my lord husband at home? I must speak to him at once.” The butler must have hesitated momentarily for she repeated herself, “At once, I tell you!”

  The baron went to the door of the receiving room. “I am here, my lady, what seems to be the trouble?”

  Lady Smythe hurried toward her husband. “You must do something, my lord. I am near my wit's end. He has taken my baby girl.”

  Lord Smythe looked beyond his wife to see that she had been accompanied by Lord Dunbar. Gathering his wife into the crook of his arm, the baron said calmly, “Perhaps we ought to all adjoin to the receiving room. Won't you join us, my lord?”

  The trio made their way back into the room Lord Smythe had just vacated but they were brought up short by Lady Smythe's shock at seeing the Duke of Wrentham in her front room.

  “What is he doing here, my lord? Surely this night has enough drama in it without adding a Wrentham to the mess.”

  Lord Smythe smiled at his wife and urged her to a seat. “It would seem he is here with the same concerns as you have.” Looking at Lord Dunbar questioningly, he continued speaking to his wife. “I am curious to know how you have arrived at your concerns.”

  “Oh my lord, Rosamund's friend Lady Elizabeth, and this dear gentleman, came to me at the ball to say that our daughter has gone missing. They are under the impression that Sir Broderick is somehow involved. I am unsure why they would think that nice man could have anything to do with anything bad happening to my daughter but anyhow, she was nowhere to be found at the Rotherhams. Of course, we did not do as thorough of a search as I would have liked, but the nice young people assured me that alerting everyone to her absence would be harmful to her reputation. Lord Dunbar was quite convinced that we shall be able to recover her before anything irrevocable is done to her and no one needs to be any the wiser. I am unsure if you will think that it was acceptable to leave the ball without her, but his lordship was quite convinced that it would be best if I was to return home and discuss the matter with you.”

  Lord Smythe patted his wife's hand soothingly. “You did just the right thing, my dear. Perhaps you ought to go lie down now. I am sure this has been quite the shock for you.”

  Lady Smythe began to rise from her chair to do as he suggested, but then thought better of it and instilled a bit of iron to her drooping spine. “I do believe, my lord, that it would be best if I remain here and wait to see if there is anything I can do to help in this strange situation.” Looking toward the duke for the first time since her initial shock, she continued, “And I really must know what Wrentham is doing in my receiving room.”

  The baron appeared nonplussed by his wife's words and Alex could see that Wesley was not going to step in to cover the awkward moment, so the duke stepped forward to explain his presence. “I know I am not an invited guest in your home, my lady, however, I came to inform you and your husband about your daughter's abduction.”

  “But how do you come to be involved? Are you here to make demands of us?” Lady Smythe was clearly struggling to keep the shrill from her voice but it echoed slightly off the high ceiling despite her efforts.

  “Of course not, my lady. I merely have information to share. I suspect Broderick thinks he has snatched her without anyone being the wiser so we might have the advantage. If we can manage to find her tonight we should be able to keep her safe and still thwart whatever schemes he is plotting.”

  Lady Smythe gazed at the duke rather dazedly. “But I really do not understand any of this. Why would Sir Broderick do something so dastardly? He seems like such a nice man. Surely he must realize that if he wanted to pay her his respects he would be more than welcome.”

  The baron and the duke both gazed at her with amazement before sharing a remarkably companionable look of commiseration. Lady Smythe's look of confusion was changing once more into an accusation. “I think you are just trying to divert our attention from your own dastardly deeds and placing the blame on poor Sir Broderick. What have you done with my daughter, you despicable rake?”

  Alex was struck silent by his surprise over the lady's misguided opinions. His shock grew to new levels when Lord Smythe stepped in to his defense.

  “My lady wife, I am amazed that you would even consider thinking about allowing Sir Broderick to call upon our daughter. He is the dastardly fellow in all of this, not His Grace.” At the look of incredulity written upon his wife's face, the baron could not help laughing slightly. “Yes, yes, I know, I would normally have nothing good to say about Wrentham, but under these circumstances, I do believe him. I do not wish to get into all the details with you at this time, but I am already aware of Rosamund's involvement with Broderick and his schemes. She had gleaned some information which she passed onto me just this afternoon. If His Grace tells us that she has been abducted by the knight then, unfortunately, I am inclined to believe him. And in that case we need to be as polite as possible in order to gain his assistance in retrieving her as quickly and safely as possible.” Seeing that his wife was now beginning to look mutinous, Lord Smythe continued. “If you do not think you can manage to be civil to His Grace while he is in our house then it might be best if you retire to your room and wait until he takes his leave.”

  Lady Smythe looked flummoxed by her husband's declaration, but aside from casting a glare in the direction of the duke she did not add anyt
hing further. She daintily sank back down onto the settee and clasped her hands in her lap. Plastering a reasonably pleasant smile onto her face, she looked back at her husband and asked, “What are you planning to do to ensure that we do not lose another one of our children, my lord?”

  The three gentlemen in the room shuffled their feet uncomfortably for a moment before Alex finally took control. “Thank you for hearing me out, my lord. I took the liberty of arranging for some of my men to report to me here as I wished to inform you of all that I know at the earliest possible moment. Earlier today I had set a couple of my runners to watching Broderick, so I am confident we shall soon be receiving word of where Rosie might be being kept.” He did not even notice that he had slipped into referring to her in such a familiar way, but when he caught the baron's skeptical look he felt the heat rising in his face.

  Wesley finally stepped forward at the perfect moment to relieve the duke of his discomfort, drawing attention to his presence. “I am unsure if Wrentham has explained this to you yet, my lord, but I have already told your wife about what Lady Elizabeth saw this evening.”

  “Yes, yes, my lord, his grace already told me about it before you got here. I do believe he is right and time is no doubt of the essence. We ought not to sit around here dithering. Your Grace, when do you expect to hear word from your men? I too had set men to watching the knight today after I had spoken with my daughter. Hopefully they will be able to report something useful before too very long.”

  “That is most excellent, my lord,” Alex responded. “I cannot say for certain when I will hear from my men. If they cannot leave their post it might be difficult for them to get a message to me. It might be best if we set out on a search ourselves. I cannot be comfortable with the thought of Miss Smythe in the clutches of that man for a moment longer than necessary.”

  “It has already been longer than necessary,” Lord Smythe grumbled. “I am still trying to understand why the girl took so long in coming to me with her information. Perhaps we could have prevented this entire scene from even happening.”

  “Hopefully you will have all the time in the world to discuss your questions with her after we have gotten her to safety, my lord. I would like to demand what she was thinking to go off with him in the first place. According to Lady Elizabeth it does not appear as though the dastard used force.”

  Lord Smythe again gazed at the duke with a look that bordered on empathetic. “Surely you realize, Your Grace, that my daughter is not one that enjoys being told what to do. If you did anything so foolish as to tell her not to speak with the knight then that could explain this entire scenario.”

  Alex grinned. “I am becoming aware of that tendency, my lord. However, the blame for this cannot be placed at my feet. I did not tell her anything, nor did I try to tell her what to do, aside from be careful, which I think is innocuous enough that it should not lead her to go off in the company of the villain of the piece.”

  Lord Smythe nodded. “It is possible that he threatened her or someone she loves in some way in order to secure her cooperation. There is no blame to be placed, Your Grace. At least not in this particular instance,” he interjected darkly.

  Seeing his friend Lord Dunbar twitch as though he wished to defend the duke, Alex caught his eye and shook his head slightly, quelling the impulse. Getting to his feet, Alex turned to face his baron host. “Thank you for seeing me, my lord. I hope I shall soon have gladder tidings. I am not sure what you intend to do. I cannot bear to sit here waiting to hear what my runners have gleaned. If you shall be home, would you be so kind as to interview them and send word to my house if there is anything pertinent to the search? I am going to swing by my house and see if any messages have arrived there, and then I am going to pursue a few leads that I can already think of from research I have previously done.”

  The baron, too, had risen to his feet during this speech. “I feel as though I ought to accompany you, but perhaps if we were to divide our efforts, we could get twice as much ground covered. I also feel that I cannot just stand here waiting. Since you have arranged for some of your men to report here, why do we not agree to meet back here in a couple of hours and share whatever we have been able to find out. Then if your men are here we can speak to them together and decide how best to proceed from there.”

  It was obvious to all in the room that Lord Smythe was doing his best to be cordial and make the most of an uncomfortable situation. He, no doubt, appreciated the duke's offer to help despite the tensions between their two families. Lady Smythe was not so accommodating.

  “He cannot return here, my lord,” she hissed.

  Alex controlled his amused smile over the uncomfortable look that descended upon the baron's face at his wife's words.

  “I have spoken, my lady. It is best to be done this way.” At her continued mumblings of disagreement, Lord Smythe looked at her sternly. “He is a duke. Even though he is young and inexperienced there will be doors he can open that are closed to me. It shall be a productive cooperation. We will be able to accomplish the most in the shortest amount of time if we work together. Do you not want our daughter home as soon as possible?”

  “Well of course I do, do not be ridiculous.”

  “Then don't you be ridiculous, my lady. We need His Grace's help, so make an effort to be gracious about it.”

  Lady Smythe's color was high and she looked uncomfortable to the extreme when Alex made good his escape from the room with Wesley in tow.

  As they rode away Lord Dunbar whistled low. “I can safely say I have never seen such a scene as I just witnessed. I never would have thought I would see the day that the mother of a young, unwed girl would be so rude to an unmarried duke. It just isn't done.” He chuckled before asking, “What could you have possibly done to put you so beyond the pale in their eyes?”

  “Surely you knew about the feud between our two families,” Alex replied, not bothering to explain any further, intent upon the task at hand.

  “I did, of course, although I think it completely daft, but I had no idea it was to such an extreme. The woman wanted to have you tossed bodily from her home.” Wesley was incredulous.

  “Never mind that for now, we have more important things to think upon right now. Are you sure you are up to this adventure tonight?”

  “I am shocked you would even ask, Your Grace. I would be loath to be anywhere else.”

  “Thank you, my friend. I so appreciate your help. Now, since we are both dressed for something other than the low adventure we are about to face, I propose that we each head home and quickly divest ourselves of our finery and meet at my house as soon as possible. Hopefully there will be some word to give us direction from there.”

  Wesley saluted smartly and headed off to his rooms without another word. Alex urged his mount to a faster pace and within a couple of minutes pulled up in the mews behind his house. Tossing his reigns to his waiting groom, Alex began striding purposefully toward the door before he thought better of it and turned back to exchange a few words with the groom.

  “There is a strong possibility I shall need your help tonight. How many strong, sharp, discreet men could we muster from the household staff for what could be a rough fight?”

  The groom did not so much as blink over this question, quickly replying, “I should think we have at least twenty that could fit that description, Your Grace.”

  At the back of his mind Alex wondered what kind of adventures his father had gotten up to that the staff would be so sanguine about what he was asking. Hiding his misgivings, the duke replied to the waiting servant. “Very well, thank you. I require more information before we need to summon everyone. Please keep yourself in readiness, but it would be best if the others get their rest while they can.”

  When the duke entered his house he was surprised to see his butler pacing with his tiger in tow. Alex was glad to see the youngster whom he had set off in pursuit of the man watching him at Burlington House.

  “Pete, am I ever glad to s
ee you! You two look troubled, which tells me you have information for me.”

  The butler looked relieved to see his master arrive. “There have been a few messages for you, Your Grace.”

  “Excellent. I need to change and I need to hurry. Could the two of you accompany me to my chambers so that we can kill multiple birds with one stone?”

  “Your Grace, I do not think that would be entirely proper,” the butler huffed.

  “Mayhap not, but a lady's safety is very much in jeopardy. I do not think we can afford to be overly fastidious at a time like this. Come along.” Alex did not await a response. He was amused and relieved to hear his butler's heavy sigh, closely followed by the sound of his footsteps following the duke up to his chambers.

  Alex was reminded of how happy he was that his valet was not the usual highly strung sort as he walked into the room with the other two in tow. He barely showed a reaction as the duke started stripping off his elegant clothes. The valet was a little more flustered when Alex demanded his roughest clothing to be readied.

  “But Your Grace,” he began to protest, but quailed under the duke's stern glare. “Very well, Your Grace.”

  Alex grinned. “All right Pete, out with it, what do you know?”

  Pete quit gazing about at the rich surroundings and brought his attention back to his master. Gulping back his nerves he launched into his tale. “That bad man what was watching yer Grace and his lady friend he knew all the trails there was to find and took me on a merry chase. But I managed no problems, yer Grace, cuz I used to hunt with me pa before I came to work for yer Grace.”

  Holding onto his patience, Alex smiled encouragingly as his valet fussed around him. “I am glad you managed so well, Pete. Were you able to find out anything useful?”

  “I did, yer Grace,” Pete grinned. “The first bad man met up with another bad man and he says to him 'tell his lordship that the chit met up with who I swear was the Duke of Wrentham.'”