phantom knights 04 - deceit in delaware

by Amalie Vantana

  Constance spoke of her family’s home in Lutania for a while, and I could hear the yearning in her voice. She was all smiles as she drifted off to sleep. I laid awake for an hour, watching her and asking myself what I would do to keep her safe. The better question was what would I not do, and that truth brought me a whole new plan. One where I faced Luther alone, and ended this battle before we could lose another one of our family.

  CHAPTER 11

  GUINEVERE

  Rose and I were seated in the dining parlor even after the remains from breakfast had been cleared away. She had borrowed one of Sam’s maps and was drawing out a course for us to follow to gather as many people to our side as we could. We each marked places where potential allies could be found. Having worked for William and the Holy Order, I knew many who had vowed their allegiance to me should I ever need them. Many of them would not be much assistance in what we would be doing, but a few knew how to fight. A few had been soldiers in the war. If we could locate them, they could prove invaluable in the coming battle.

  If we could locate them.

  Rose knew of as many people having worked with Sam here in Charleston for just as many years. She was quite certain that she could gain their assistance.

  We were speaking of that when I noticed Leo standing just inside the room. He was watching Rose with so much longing in his eyes, until he noticed me watching him. A hint of a smile touched his lips and I smiled in return. For who could possibly resist smiling when Leo looked like that. He was ten years our senior, with a maturity twice that. Having grown up in the palace with a father who had first been the head of the guards and then a lord on the council, he knew how to see but not be seen. He knew how to keep his thoughts from showing on his face. Most of all he knew how to keep a secret. Which was a flaw when it came to how he felt for my sister. In unguarded moments when he was sure no one was watching, he took in her every feature with so much love that it nearly broke my heart. He would love her for the rest of his days, if he could overcome his mindset of being lesser than we were. Rose was not the queen yet, and we had been living in America for eight years. Here we were not royals. Here we were commoners, or so I liked to think, but there would never been anything common about my sister. She was grace and elegance without trying to be.

  “I am certain that Terrance will assist us,” Rose was saying as she stared down at the map. “When I refused his proposal he promised his undying allegiance should I ever need him.” Rose laughed a little at something, and Leo’s blue eyes narrowed.

  “James Cromwell, Christopher Lee, Paul Solomon.” Rose named each man thoughtfully as she wrote his name on a pad beside the map.

  “Does Leopold Perry have a place on your list, milady?” Leo asked with a bite to his voice.

  Rose looked up, clearly startled by his presence. She recovered quickly, smiling. “If you should wish it, of course. You will always have a place.”

  Leo stared into Rose’s eyes with so much force that I was surprised that the candles did not flicker to life. His angular jaw was taut, his clean shaven face more handsome now than it had been when he was eighteen. The contrast between his light blue eyes and the dark brown of his hair was enough to make even the oldest hearts flutter, especially when he stared at a woman as if no one and nothing else existed. What he could not say with words was being shared across the room with Rose. How my sister kept her composure was beyond me for I picked up the nearest napkin and fanning myself.

  Leo said nothing as he gave a curt bow, turned on his heel, and left the room.

  Rose released a gasp and then collapsed into her chair. She made several whimpers that I guessed were attempts to speak, but she had no words. Smiling, I handed her my napkin which she used to quickly fan her heated face.

  “He loves you,” I said.

  Rose released a long breath. “Do not be ridiculous.” She tried to laugh, but her voice sounded more like a moan.

  Dropping the napkin to her lap, she rested her face in her hands. “What am I going to do?”

  “Return his regard?” I ventured. “Cast yourself into his arms and beg him to kiss you.”

  “A princess does not beg,” Rose said earnestly though she did not remove her hands from her face.

  “Perhaps that is your problem, Rose. You could use a bit of humility.”

  “That is rich, coming from you.”

  Gasping in mock surprise, I pressed my hand over my heart. “Not so, I will have you know. I overcame my need to be in control when I asked Jack to marry me, and I would have married him at the plantation if Lucas had not shot him.”

  “It is not a matter of control. He sees me as that little girl that he swore to protect.”

  Laughing outright drew my sister’s attention to me. “He has not seen you as a little girl these last two years. He feels that he cannot speak because he is not worthy.”

  “That is ridiculous,” Rose retorted. “He is a knight.”

  “He is a knight, but he is also a great man. One who encourages everyone by his unyielding support. He would die for his friends, and he would love you for the rest of your life if you would but give him a little encouragement.”

  “I have given him yards of encouragement and he chooses not to act,” Rose whispered as she watched the door as if to be sure that no one else was listening.

  Holding in my laughter at Rose’s indignant face, I reached over and took hold of one of her hands. “Sister mine, your encouragement, as you call it, would not convince a dry horse to drink from a lake beneath its nose.”

  “Your meaning?” Rose demanded, trying to snatch her hand away.

  “He cannot understand the difference between your encouragement and your aloofness.”

  “I am not aloof!”

  “You, my dearest, are the queen of aloof.”

  “Evidently you know nothing of which you speak,” Rose said, pulling her hand away and folding up the map.

  “Of course I do not, I am only the one who married the man that she loves.”

  Rose said nothing as she scooped up the map and her paper and moved toward the door.

  “He calls you Bella,” I said, effectually causing my sister to pause. “I have heard him do it when you thought you were alone.” Over the years as Rose, Leo, William, and I had gathered in Charleston I always caught Leo and Rose spending time together alone. He would allow her to pour her worries out to him, and he would offer her support. During the last two years I had heard him call her Bella which was a name that our father had called her when we were children.

  Rose left me without a word and I sat back, trying to think up ways to throw them together without either of them becoming aware that I was behind it. That was the difficult part when dealing with two highly suspicious people.

  “I understand that you are going to be traveling with my son,” William said as he came into the dining parlor. He did not give me a chance to tell him that I had decided to go with my sister before he forged ahead.

  “I will tell you again what I have said so many times. You will be the death of my son if you remain with him.”

  “I will never hurt him,” I said, rising to my feet. William and I had never agreed when it came to Jack. He had warned me to stay away but there was something about Jack that had always drawn me to him. The ability to trust him without fear of betrayal perhaps.

  “We never believe we will until it happens.” He spoke with regret, as if he understood too well. “You must leave him before the worst happens.”

  “To do what? Follow you? I have lived years following your lead and where has that gotten me?” Almost killed over a dozen times, nearly lost the man that I love, and both of my sisters placed in harm.

  “You would rather follow my son’s lead? He knows nothing of leading a country.”

  “As the years have shown, neither do you. I will take my chances with Jack.”

  “I will remind you of this conversation at his funeral.” William left me to seethe alone.

 
The nerve of the man was beyond compare. He had lost control and he knew it. That was why he acted as he did, or so I tried to convince myself. Not that it lessened my anger by any degree.

  “I always knew he could be selfish, but that was beyond acceptable and I will tell him so,” Bess said from the doorway before turning and disappearing from my view.

  “No,” I said quickly, rising and following Bess into the foyer. “He was in the right.” That gained Bess’s attention and as I walked away she followed me into the parlor. “My uncle will use Jack against me if he gains the chance. Against your father. Their battle is long. It is time that my sister and I finish what we began.”

  “You did not begin this, Guinevere. Your uncle started this when he murdered your father. You did what anyone in your position could do.”

  Bess was trying to be helpful, but she did not understand. Her father had chosen to hide himself away under the guise of being murdered. He had always planned to return to them after he had accomplished his goals.

  My father had been murdered and there was no returning from that.

  Bess must have seen the ironclad determination on my face for she spoke up quickly. “My brother will never allow it. I will never allow it.”

  “You cannot stop me. He will use you as well. You and your child.”

  That put a halt to her protests. She knew how imperative it was to protect her family.

  “I need to make certain that your father goes with Jack. Can you do that for me?” It was as close to begging as I would come.

  “I will do my best as long as you promise me you will return to my brother.” Bess’s stance was rigid. She was unyielding in her need to gain my promise.

  Bess and I had come a long way over the last year. From her trying to kill me and me trying to keep her from harm, to being sisters and, possibly, friends.

  “I will give it my all. You have my word.” That was the best that I could do and Bess did not ask for any more assurance than that.

  ****

  Rose had not been only hoping when she listed the men who had pledged their aid to her. When we boarded William’s ship that would sail us to Baltimore where Hannah’s parents were living, those four men were waiting for us. They each greeted Rose as an old friend. They called her Mrs. Eldridge, or Rose darling. It was evident that they did not know her as well as they thought if they still believed her to be the wealthy widow of a soldier. They were courteous to the rest of us, and one, a Mr. James Cromwell, asked if we were acquainted. Jack came on board in time to hear that question. Wrapping his arm about my waist, he introduced me as his wife. Mr. Cromwell and Jack had met at Bess and Sam’s wedding according to the man, and he was thrilled to meet Jack’s wife.

  “You are not traveling with us, Martin?” Mr. Cromwell asked as Jack bid a safe journey to Rose, Dudley and Hannah.

  “Unfortunately not. My ship is over there and will take me to Washington before we meet up again. My trusted friends,” Jack motioned toward Leo and Dudley, “will be overseeing the welfare and protection of Mrs. Eldridge, Mrs. Stanton, and my wife.” There was a thinly veiled threat in Jack’s words, one which Mr. Cromwell could not fail to understand.

  Jack had not worked with these men, but on the short journey to the ship he assured me that Sam had the greatest faith in them. They were former soldiers and now were constables. Sam had worked with each of them in his Phantom duties.

  Jack drew me with him toward the gangplank as he prepared to depart.

  “You have given me your word that you will not seek out your uncle until we are together again, and I am holding you to that vow.”

  Smiling up at him, I leaned forward and kissed his cheek. “I love you, Jack Martin.”

  Hooking an arm around my waist, he pulled me against him, uncaring of the audience that we were attracting. “I love you, Constance Martin.”

  Raising on the tips of my boots, I kissed him without reserve. Crushing me against him, he returned my kiss with soft caresses that made my knees buckle. Jack chuckled against my lips as his arm was all that was holding me up.

  “Something to remember me by,” he said seductively.

  “Something to look forward to,” I said, as I removed a letter from my reticule and pressed it into his hand. “Do not read it until you are on your voyage and missing me more than you ever have.”

  “Then I shall read it the instant that my feet touch the deck of that ship,” Jack replied before kissing my lips with a feather touch, and then my cheek, followed by my wrist. He released me and left the ship without looking back until he was over at Sam’s ship. He pressed his hand against his mouth and then released it toward me in a large sweep, smacking Sam in the face with the back of his hand as he had not seen Sam come up beside him.

  “That man certainly loves you,” Hannah said as she stood beside me.

  He did love me, and the knowledge was all that I needed to keep me on my path.

  ****

  We arrived at Baltimore two days later having been slowed due to a rainstorm. By the time we left the ship, Rose’s friends were calling Leo a guard dog behind his back, because when Rose was on deck he never left her side. Rose took it all in stride, but there was no change in their relationship. He was still her guard and she was still his queen.

  Leo ordered those men to stay aboard the ship while the rest of us disembarked and climbed into a carriage that a porter had secured for us.

  Hannah assured us that it was not far to her parents’ house.

  The house, that I recognized at once, sat nestled by itself on a street with houses neither as impressive nor as large though they were all to be found in the richer part of the city. As we climbed down from the carriage, I stared up at the house that belonged to Nell Martin. I knew that because it had been left to her in Richard Hamilton’s will. As had all of his holdings. It was an impressive three stories in size, and took up three lots on the square of houses.

  Hannah walked up to the door without hesitancy and opened it. We followed her inside and heard a shrill exclamation.

  “At last! I had thought you to have met with some misfortune.” Jeanne Beaumont came bustling into the parlor and placed her hand beneath Hannah’s chin to lift it toward the light coming from the nearest window.

  “Hmm, you look pale, child.” Jeanne cast Dudley a scathing look. “What has that person been doing to you?”

  “Dudley has been treating me like a princess,” Hannah assured her mother.

  Dudley rose quite three inches under Hannah’s praise.

  “Which means that he has been hovering,” Hannah went on to say.

  Rose cast me a speaking look as if to ask if that was a slight on us. I shrugged, unconcerned.

  “Well, come in, come in,” Jeanne said, bustling everyone into the large front parlor. “Be a dear and bolt that door, Leo.” Jeanne followed us into the parlor. After Leo had the door bolted he came in and took up sentry behind Rose’s chair.

  Looking between Hannah and Jeanne, I failed to see the resemblance as I always did when I saw them in the same room. I supposed that it could be said that Hannah took after her father, but not truly. She gained her dark hair from Pierre, but that was all as far as looks went.

  “What has happened?” Hannah asked as soon as she was seated.

  Jeanne released a great huff of agitation as she ambled around the room, dusting this, and rearranging that.

  Jeanne stopped before Rose and curtsied low. “My lady, it relieves my mind to see you again.”

  Rose greeted Jeanne as if they were old friends.

  “Where is Papa?” Hannah asked with a tremor in her voice. Dudley reached over and took her hand.

  “As we were awaiting your arrival we received a message that some friends were set upon by those pesky men who call themselves royal guards.” Jeanne looked at Hannah. “Your papa went to lend them aid.”

  “Jeanne, who is here?” came a voice from another room, thick with a French accent.

  Arnaud moved
into the room, and Hannah, Dudley, and I all rose to greet him.

  “Milady,” Arnaud said to me first, bowing as much as his years would allow him. He turned to Hannah and kissed both of her hands.

  “I ask your mama why she never tells me you are married to Dudley,” Arnaud said to Hannah, and Hannah and Dudley laughed as if it was an old joke between them.

  Jeanne moved past me, but I heard her murmur, “I was hoping to forget.”

  “Mother Beaumont is always delightful,” Dudley said as he moved straight toward Jeanne and kissed Jeanne’s cheek, much to that woman’s scowling.

  Jeanne made a choking sound, causing Rose and I to laugh.

  Once we were all seated again, Jeanne said that she did not know where we would all sleep, that the house was not large enough to accommodate so many persons. As if the house was not a mansion.

  “There is nothing for it. Dudley,” Jeanne said to her son by marriage, “you will have to bed down upon this sofa. For I never shall. I have spent too many nights sleeping upon an uncomfortable bed.”

  “Was your journey here truly awful?” Hannah inquired.

  “Damp sheets,” Jeanne said with disgust.

  “Jeanne, you know zat zere is room aplenty,” Arnaud said to her.

  “Are bedchambers truly what is important?” Leo asked from where he stood before the window.

  “You would not say that if you were the one sleeping upon damp sheets,” Jeanne chastised without reserve. There was no doubt that they had known each other for a long time, for no one chastised Leo.

  “Let us move on to what is important. We have come to gain your assistance in defeating Luther,” Hannah announced.

  Jeanne and Arnaud exchanged a glance.

  “What do you know?” I put the question to them, knowing each of them enough to know that something was not right.

  “We know where that villain of an uncle of yours is to be found,” Jeanne said.

  “Where?” Rose asked eagerly.

  Jeanne looked to Arnaud and when he nodded she spoke.