“I am still not certain whether we should accept the use of this cottage,” said Alex. “I hate to feel indebted to any man, especially him.”
“It is partial compensation for your duties as magistrate,” said Nate. “And we will like having you close. Both now and when this sordid business is finished.”
“What is your next step?” asked Alex.
“I would like to find the Ridgeway ring, though I am disheartened to think of the many places where it could be hidden. Not to mention it could be in London or he might have sold it on the continent years ago. But there is nothing to it but to search and hope to find other evidence along the way.”
“And I hope to hear back from the Home Office about Frederick Mortimer. Perhaps his visit could shed some light on this.”
“I feel better with a purpose and a plan,” said Rose. “I must believe we are nearing success.”
* * *
Rose and Nate arrived back at the castle to find a summons from Bancroft asking Nate to meet him in his library. As Rose followed her husband, they were interrupted by Mirabelle.
“He did not ask for you, Rose. Just Nathaniel.”
“My husband and I have just spent a lovely few hours at my sister’s house. I should like to thank his grace again for offering it to them.” Rose did not like the thought of being separated from her husband, for both their sakes.
“Come now,” chided Mirabelle. “I am the mistress of this house and I would like to take tea with you. Thank him if you wish – though I am the one who actually moved them in – but do be so good as to meet me in the east sitting room in a quarter of an hour.”
As Rose watched Mirabelle walk away, she moved closer to Nate’s side. “I do not want you seeing him alone.”
“And I can hardly bring my wife in for protection, though I do hope you are careful when you are alone with Mirabelle. I hate thinking of you having to tolerate her poisonous tongue.”
“I can tolerate Mirabelle and her tongue. But I will look for you later to plan our next step.” Oblivious to the presence of servants, Rose kissed her husband, then went to find the east sitting room as Nate entered his father’s library.
* * *
“There you are,” said the duke as he looked up briefly from the ledger he was perusing. “I thought you would remain at the cottage all day.” Bancroft rose from the desk, then opened his safe and placed the ledger inside.
“We wanted to ensure Mr. and Mrs. Lewis were settled. Thank you again for allowing them to live there.”
“Well, if it keeps me from having to deal with the squabbles of the countryside it is well worth it.” Bancroft stared at Nate for a long moment. There was no trace of humor or even the formal politesse of a nobleman. It was a cold hard stare, and Nate could detect anger, if not hatred.
He had often seen indifference in his father’s eyes. But this was completely different. He wondered what had happened.
“How may I assist you, your grace?”
“I wanted to know what your plans are, now that you have settled your wife’s relations. When will you be leaving?”
They were interrupted by a knock at the door as Westfield entered and bowed. “Forgive me for interrupting, your grace, but one of the window casements has fallen from the tower.”
“What do you want me to do about it!” Bancroft almost bit the butler’s head off, which surprised both Nate and Westfield. But a moment later he calmed down. “Have one of the carpenters look at it. I shall expect a report within the hour.”
Westfield looked a bit uncomfortable. “Her grace asked me to come in here to specifically ask you to stay away from the fallen window. She fears there may be glass on the ground and she does not wish for you to cut yourself.”
Bancroft snorted. “Does she think I am so much in my dotage that I cannot avoid a few shards of glass?”
“I am certain she did not mean to give offense,” Westfield quickly offered.
“Well, I am going to examine the fallen window, then meet with the carpenter myself to tell him what is to be done about it. Grayson, you will come with me.”
With that, Bancroft stormed out of the library and Nate had little choice but to follow, still unclear as to why his father was in such a foul mood.
They left the house and walked around the east wing toward the tower. A large casement window, which must have measured six by ten feet had indeed fallen out of its mooring some four stories above them.
Nate bent down to examine the frame.
“It must have rotted out of its mooring,” said Bancroft, keeping an eye on Nate.
But from Nate’s viewpoint, there was nothing wrong with the wood. Indeed, it looked like it had been pried apart.
“When are you going to leave?” Bancroft asked him again.
“We thought we would stay here for a while,” said Nate, as he stood and faced his father. “It has been a long time since Rose and her family have all been together. I believe she would like to prolong the experience.”
“A man who lets his wife lead him about by the nose – or any other part – is a fool.”
“I do not look at it that way. I love my wife and want to make her happy. At the moment, that means being with her family, whom I genuinely enjoy. I know it must be a foreign concept to you, your grace, but I have found that family can greatly enrich one’s life. At least that is the case with the Emersons.”
“Hardly enriching. Ridgeway is nearly bankrupt. You will spend a pretty penny to bail him out. Rose certainly knew who to trap into marriage.”
Nate could not contain his anger. “You will not say another word against my wife or her family. And it is laughable that you should blame Ridgeway for his finances since you are the one responsible.”
“What do you mean by that? And tread lightly, boy, for you would not want to accuse me of anything you cannot prove. I have called men out for lesser accusations. It would not matter to me if you are my son. You may be one of the best shots in England but surely you have not forgotten who taught you to shoot.”
“Name the time and place, Father. And we shall be done with this dance.”
Later, Nate did not know what made him look up, but it was just in time to see a large object falling from the roof. Bancroft must have seen it at the same instant, for they both jumped back and to the side just as the object landed on the spot on which they had both been standing.
For a moment, they stared at each other in shock.
“I see how it shall be,” said Bancroft with hatred in his voice. Then he turned to walk away, only to find Rose running toward them, followed by several footmen. They were then joined by a shocked Westfield and a distraught Mirabelle, whose crying seemed to be at odds with her languid pace.
“Bancroft! Are you hurt?” she said as she looked him over. “I told you not to come out here. This old house is crumbling away.”
“There is no need to upset yourself, Duchess,” said her husband. “I am well.”
Rose, meanwhile, had run her hands over Nate checking for injuries. “What happened?” she asked.
Nate only shook his head. “We will discuss this later.”
Canning, Jones and Mortimer all joined them then, coming from different directions.
“What the devil happened?” asked Canning. “I heard this whooshing sound and thought the roof was caving in.”
“One of the gargoyles apparently decided to take flight,” said Bancroft, eyeing the downed statue.
Nate wondered if his father saw what he did. That the stone statue had been pried from its position, just as the window had been. Someone had dislodged the window to get them there, then had pushed the gargoyle when they had been in place.
But there were two questions. Who had done it? And who had he been aiming for?
* * *
Bancroft sat in his study, as Mortimer, Jones and Canning drank with him. The duke was more unnerved than he would like to admit. On the way back to the castle, he’d caught Mortimer’s eye. “Y
ou?” the duke had asked him. Mortimer’s only response was to shake his head no.
That meant either Grayson had arranged it, or Jones or Canning had done it. He didn’t think it could be Mortimer since he had been tasked with killing Grayson. There was every reason to admit he had been up there.
And this was the second attempt on his life, for he now believed he had been the target of the shooting when they had gone riding and not Rose.
But who had done it?
He studied the men around him. Jones was glowering at Mortimer. Mortimer was keeping a wary distance from Jones, and Canning was prattling on about his latest trip to the wine cellar. It had to be Grayson working in concert with Alex Lewis, who could have slipped into the castle without being noticed. He had known a few barristers who had taken the law into their own hands when they felt there had been a miscarriage of justice. Or mayhap the man had not known the extent of his new wife’s poverty before marrying her and wanted money from Nate.
But there was something even more disturbing than a failed murder attempt. Grayson had been on the verge of calling his own father out. And he had all but accused him of stealing the Ridgeway fortune. Apparently, his son had no respect for him or his position.
Bancroft was interrupted in his musings by Mirabelle’s entrance. She had changed her gown from earlier and was now wearing one which showed more décolletage than necessary. It was one thing to wear such a gown for him. Or even to wear it at a ton ball where all his friends could envy his possession of a young, beautiful wife. But to wear it in this room, in front of three other men was in questionable taste.
She walked slowly into the room in that way she had when she wished to be admired. Jones stopped glowering at Mortimer long enough to look at her breasts. Mortimer glanced at her in what could be considered a mocking way before pouring another drink. Canning stopped talking about wine long enough to flirt with Mirabelle, who most assiduously tried to play it off.
Canning was in love with Mirabelle.
That gave Bancroft a great deal to think about.
* * *
Rose and Nate made love that night as if the world might end. He did not admit to her how shaken he had been when he had nearly been killed. But he had a feeling Rose could sense it. It unnerved him how well she already knew him. He could only imagine what it would be like once they had been married a few years. Or decades.
He was determined to make it that far.
Afterward, as she lay on his chest he could feel her fear as he kissed her. “Do not worry, love,” he said. “We will get through this.”
“Well, I certainly did not spend years longing for you only to have you harmed – or worse. I shall simply not allow anything to happen to you.”
“I am glad to hear it, sweeting.” He moved a hand onto her breast.
She moved it off. “Pray keep your hands to yourself until I am finished speaking. I cannot form a thought in my head when you do that. Now, I have decided that the key to putting an end to this is finding the Ridgeway ring.”
“I agree. In fact…”
“Nate, I am not yet finished. I was about to tell you my plan to find the ring.”
“Very well. Pray continue.”
“I hope this does not mean you think I need your permission to speak. That would not bode well for marriage. And I believe I told you to keep your hands to yourself.”
He reluctantly removed his hand from her arse. “I thought you meant I could not touch your luscious breast.”
“I believe I made it clear that I cannot think when you are touching any part of me.”
“That was not my understanding at all.”
“Then it is good that I clarified it. Why is your foot touching mine?”
“I am keeping my hands to myself, but apparently my foot has a mind of its own.”
“Nathaniel Gage,” said Rose, as she sat up, exposing her lovely breasts to him. “You are to keep all parts of you away from all parts of me until I have finished telling you my plan. Then, and only then, you may proceed.”
“Very well,” he said, enjoying himself immensely.
“Thank you. I have a plan to look for the ring and it is rather clever, if I do say so myself. The one area you have not been able to access is the safe in the duke’s bedchamber.”
“Yes. There has always been at least one footman outside the chamber and often I hear voices from within.”
“It would be highly suspicious for you to search the chamber, but I should be able to get right in.”
“Come again? I do not believe I understood you, for I could have sworn you said you would be going into Bancroft’s bedchamber.”
“It is good to know you are not losing your hearing at this relatively young age, for that is exactly what I did say.”
“I will ignore your jibe about my age for the time being, but you will under no circumstances enter the duke’s bedchamber!”
“But the ring could be in there.”
“Which is why I will find a way to search his suite. Besides, unless you are skilled at safe breaking, there is no way you could do anything once you were in there.”
Rose sighed. “Nate, I told you I had a plan. And it is a good deal better than breaking into the duke’s bedchamber and staring at a locked safe. Trust me.”
“When it concerns your safety, I only trust me. Is your foot tangling with mine?”
“It is.”
Nate was torn between wanting to discuss this further and needing to make love to his wife, especially since she was now putting her hand in places much more interesting than his foot. He growled, then rolled her onto her back as he came on top of her. “I hope this is the end of your clever ideas and I will have much to say later, but for now…”
Then all words were lost as he made love to his wife.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Mirabelle was sitting in the morning room wondering why it was so difficult to kill her current husband, when she’d managed to get rid of her first one with ease. Bancroft was an old man. He should not have been able to move out of the way that quickly. Of course, she had not seen any of it, since she had made sure to be far from the roof when the gargoyle was toppled. She had been taking tea with Rose, the perfect alibi.
She also wondered how she was going to be able to kill Rose when Nate barely let her out of his sight. It was difficult killing women because they always seemed to be suspicious of her, whereas the men were so busy hoping she would do something with their cocks, that it was always a surprise when they wound up dead, instead.
She was interrupted in her plans by Rose herself. The chit came into the morning room wearing one of the new gowns Nate had chosen for her. The man did have good taste in clothes. Mayhap she would keep him around for a while when they were both in mourning.
But instead of Rose’s nauseating good cheer, today she looked in high dudgeon, which cheered Mirabelle considerably. “What is wrong, Rose?”
Rose scowled, then sat. “I should not talk about it.”
“But you can say anything to me, dear. Anything at all.” Especially anything which would turn Nate against his wife.
She looked like she was considering it, but then shook her head. “It is just the nature of men.”
“Something I understand all too well. Is your husband making marital demands you cannot fulfill?” She would be happy to take Rose’s place.
Rose blushed – she was such a country miss – then shook her head again. “It is not that, but… May I tell you something in the strictest confidence?”
“Of course, Rose. You can tell me anything.”
“Well, Nate gave me that necklace and the earbobs from his mother.”
“And the tiara.” Mirabelle especially wanted that tiara.
“And that tiara. They were quite lovely, but, well, I thought there would be more. But he claims even the duchess does not have much jewelry. Is that true? Do you really not have many jewels?”
So the little miss was greedier than she a
ppeared. Nate would hate learning he had been taken in by her talk of love when in fact she had coveted the duchess’s jewels, all along. Well, there was nothing to it but to make her very envious. “I do not know why Nate would have told you such a Banbury tale unless….well, I should not go on.”
“Please do. I am most curious about what he is and isn’t telling me.”
“Well, the only thing I can think is that Nate is disguising the amount jewels which come with the title in case he distributes them elsewhere. I am certain he has any number of mistresses who are looking forward to one day wearing jewels from the House of Bancroft.” Not that there would be any left once Mirabelle got her hands on them.
Rose narrowed her eyes and Mirabelle had to keep from laughing. It was so easy to manipulate the girl.
“But surely there cannot be so many jewels,” said Rose. “Nate showed me the safe in his father’s study and there were only a few pieces. Mayhap he is right.”
“He isn’t,” snapped Mirabelle. She had made good and sure that Bancroft was wealthy before she even considered marrying him. “And that isn’t the only safe. Come with me.”
Rose followed Mirabelle upstairs into her bedchamber. She shooed away the maid who was in there, then opened her jewel box to reveal the many necklaces, earbobs, rings and bracelets which came with the title.
“Goodness,” said Rose, with an appropriate sense of awe. “These are beautiful. May I look at them?”
“Of course,” she said with a wave of her hand. “Though I have a very good memory of what is there and would certainly notice if anything went missing.”
Rose studied the collection for a moment. “So, this is it?”
The nerve of the woman. It was a king’s ransom compared to what Nate had given her. “There are more pieces in Bancroft’s bedchamber.” She led the way from her chamber through the adjoining sitting room to the duke’s bedchamber where they startled Mr. Jones, who was writing in a journal in the chair by the window. “What are you doing here?” She asked him.
Always Forever (Emerson Book 5) Page 18