His Wicked Secret

by Lauren Smith

  “You’re so lucky you are handsome,” she teased. “I almost always forget I’m mad at you when you look at me like that.”

  His lips curved into a crooked grin. “Like what?”

  “Like you want to take me to bed. And if you do, I can’t stay mad at you.”

  He brushed the pad of his thumb over her bottom lip. “When I return, we shall spend a week in bed.”

  Emily leaned into him, and he lost himself in her scent and the feel of her in his arms. “Promise?”

  “I promise.”

  They moved toward the stairs, but the front door knocker clapped loudly behind them, startling them both. Godric turned to find a young boy standing there holding another letter.

  “Urgent message from the ship the Lady’s Splendor,” the boy said. “To be delivered to His Grace, that is, the Duke of Essex. You him?”

  “Another one?” Godric offered the boy a shilling before taking the letter. He recognized the handwriting as Jonathan’s and hastily read the note.

  “It’s Jon. He’s hiding on board the ship, and Audrey doesn’t know he’s there.”

  “That’s good, isn’t it?” asked Emily.

  “He says he has no clothes or money and that I should hurry up and meet him in Calais. He expects trouble.”

  “Oh dear…” Emily turned and rushed to the study ahead of him. When he joined her inside, she had already filled a coin purse for him, lying on the corner of his desk. She was now opening a chest of drawers, pulling out a dirk and a pistol.

  He raised a brow. “How did you—?”

  “I know where everything of yours is, darling,” she replied. “And I won’t have you leave without being properly prepared.” She waved the weapons. “You’ll need these. Decide what else you will need to prepare. I’ll have clothes packed for both you and Jonathan.”

  Godric took them both. “Thank you. I’ll write to Cedric and the others. They should all be in London, except for Ash.”

  “Someone say my name?” Ashton stood in the doorway like a magician had conjured him, his eyes glinting with amusement.

  “Thank God you’re here.” Emily rushed over to hug the tall baron.

  Ashton patted Emily’s back and looked over at Godric, waiting for someone to explain. “Rosalind and I arrived early, and I came to see if you wished to have dinner with us, but it seems something else must take priority.”

  “Audrey has run off to France with Avery, and Jonathan has gone after her.”

  “Avery? What the devil is she…?”

  “He is sailing to Calais, hiding aboard their ship.”

  Ashton frowned. “Hiding?”

  “Not from the crew, from Audrey.”

  “This is all terribly confusing.” Ashton glanced between them, baffled.

  “I’ll explain while we pack. Do you have any vessels that get us to Calais in a hurry?”

  Ashton’s lips twisted into a grin. “You have to ask? I have a cutter that flies like the wind itself. She only just returned yesterday. We could leave in two hours.”

  “Excellent.” Godric nodded to his friend. If there was one thing the League could do well, it was rally to a friend’s assistance, or in this case, a brother’s.

  Lord, Jonathan. You need to marry this woman if only so she’ll stop getting into trouble.

  20

  Audrey knelt over her chamber pot, retching violently for what felt like the hundredth time since their ship left port. Avery had warned her that the Channel would be choppy, but she hadn’t realized just how much it would affect her. She’d glanced toward the cabin window and had seen towering, rolling waves. The ship would sometimes drop as much as twenty feet, and it made her stomach plummet right to her toes.

  She wiped her mouth and sat back on the floor of her cabin. Cold sweat dewed on her brow, and she winced as her stomach cramped. She felt like such a failure. What kind of spy became seasick? Or became faint at the sight of blood?

  Not a good one.

  A knock sounded on her cabin door. She looked toward it, watching the curtains of her bunk sway.

  “Yes?” She tried to stand, but her legs shook so hard she fell back down to the floor.

  “It’s Avery. I wanted to see how you were feeling. The waves have eased a bit, and I thought you could use some fresh air.”

  The waves had eased a bit? Given the way her stomach knotted in fresh pain, the waves seemed as large as ever.

  “I’m…I’m afraid I’m not up to it.” Shame smothered her at the admission, but she couldn’t lie, not when her body was bound to send her crashing back to the floor with dizziness and nausea.

  “Is there anything I can do?” Avery’s concern almost made her smile, but she knew there wasn’t anything he could do. Her body simply needed to deal with this on its own.

  “No, I’m quite fine. But thank you. How soon until we reach France?”

  “Another three hours. The captain said the wind was against us.”

  “Lovely,” Audrey muttered and swallowed, trying her best to ignore the sour taste in her mouth.

  “Shall I come for you once land is in sight?” Avery asked.

  “Yes, thank you.”

  Audrey waited for him to leave and shut her eyes. So much for a grand start to her career in espionage. She settled down on the floor, finding the cool wood more of a comfort than the small bed at this moment. Audrey remained like that for at least another half hour, possibly more, focusing on calming her stomach.

  She tensed at the sound of more knocking. “Have we reached land already?”

  A heavy voice came from the other side of the door. “Begging your pardon, ma’am, but the fancy gents you came with said they need to speak with you. They sent me to fetch you.”

  She summoned her strength to pull herself up on her feet by using the wooden bed frame for support. When the floor beneath her didn’t seem to roll as much as it had before, she gave a sigh of relief. She smoothed her wrinkled skirts and squared her shoulders. Two men stood at the door when she opened it, dressed in the rough, untidy clothes of sailors. She read much in the looks on their faces, and a pit formed in her stomach all over again, but for very different reasons.

  “See? Fancy bit o’ muslin she is,” the bigger man said.

  “You…You said I was needed on deck?”

  “No, you’re needed here. By me.” The larger man lunged for her, grabbing her throat. She was so startled she didn’t react at first, but as the other man closed the door and locked them inside, she came to her senses. She tried to scream, but her voice was silenced by the crushing grip on her throat.

  “Twist his hand back at the wrist. Break it if you have to.”

  Jonathan’s words came back to her, and she knew what to do. All of his strength was focused on her neck, but the hand that was sliding up her thigh was vulnerable. Audrey gripped his hand tight and jerked it back, forcing his wrist to an unnatural angle. The joint resisted, but she pushed harder, harder than she ever had before. There was a snapping sound followed by an earsplitting scream, and he quickly released her throat. The man stumbled back, clutching his broken wrist.

  “You bloody little bitch!”

  Audrey raised her fists, feet apart, standing firm. “I can do much worse than break your wrist, you miserable little blackguard,” she warned, baring her teeth.

  “Go on, Horace, get her!” the man shouted.

  Horace eyed Audrey carefully. “I don’t know, Roger. She looks half mad.” He took a hesitant step closer but didn’t seem all that confident.

  “One more step and I’ll break something far more precious to you than your wrist.” Audrey stared at his groin a long second before she met his eyes, and then she moved forward a step, throwing out a fist menacingly just the way Jonathan had shown her.

  “Nope. Not doing it, Roger. She looks like one of them boxers at Fives Court.”

  Roger, still clutching his hand, glared Audrey. “She’s just a little chit!”

  “That little chit brok
e your bloody arm!”

  “If you do not leave at once, you will see what this little chit is capable of. And then I will see to it that the captain has you both hung.”

  Horace still didn’t attack her, and Roger snarled in fury. Then the pair of them fled.

  Audrey remained in her fighting stance, just in case they changed their minds and came back. When they didn’t, she rushed to the door and shut it. Her body dissolved into uncontrollable shaking. Her seasickness was gone, but in its place were a riot of emotions. She wiped at her cheeks, scrubbing away the tears.

  “Miss Sheridan?” Daniel Sheffield opened the door to her cabin. His eyes quickly assessed her and her appearance. “I saw two men fleeing the room and feared for you—”

  She smoothed her hair back from her face, checking the placement of the pins. “I handled it, Mr. Sheffield. Thank you for your concern.” A number of curls had come loose in the struggle. She hastily fixed them by using a small mirror nailed to the wall of the cabin by her bed.

  “You…handled it?” Sheffield asked, stunned.

  “Yes. You did not think I would agree to come if I had not been trained in self-defense, do you?” She made this announcement calmly, but her heart was still racing and her blood roared in her ears, almost deafening her.

  Daniel closed the door for privacy. “Who trained you?”

  “A professional boxer,” she lied. Thinking of Jonathan and how she’d left him behind only crushed her heart. “But he instructed me in more than just pugilism. I broke one of the men’s wrists.”

  Daniel had a look she couldn’t quite place. Admiration? Concern? Both? “You should inform the captain. He will probably toss the two men in the sea,” he said at last. “This captain is very protective of ladies.”

  “No, that’s quite all right. I don’t believe they will try it again.” Audrey lifted her chin and pushed her shoulders back. “Now, if you’ll please excuse me, I believe a bit of fresh air would do me good.”

  Daniel made room for her to pass, and Audrey took the steps up onto the deck. Avery stood against the railing, one hand curled tight on the rope nearest him. His reddish-gold hair had been roughened by the wind. Worry lines had formed around his mouth and around his eyes.

  “Are we close?” she asked.

  “Oh!” He turned as if she had startled him. “Yes.” He pointed straight toward the shore. “That is Calais.”

  She squinted at the distant land mass. “What do we do once we reach shore?”

  “We must go to a small inn at the edge of town. Daniel and I are to meet with a member of the reformist group, show him our credentials. Once we gain his trust, he will take us to the others. You and Daniel will be presented as exiled aristocrats. I’m your friend and fellow French sympathizer. I’ll do my best to insert myself into their group. You are to do what you do best…Lady Society.”

  “How did you…?”

  “I’ve known for as long as you’ve been hounding me about being a spy. Your writing style is distinct, and you made no attempt to hide your mannerisms. I’m surprised no one else has noticed. But then, my skills have always lain in deciphering letters.”

  Audrey nodded, thinking. They would have to gather names and meeting places and learn if these men would be returning to England to incite a rebellion. But even loose gossip between comrades could yield insight as to their intentions.

  Avery turned to face her. “Are you feeling better?”

  “Yes, thank you.” She touched her cheek with one hand. She was still pale, but she felt better. Oddly enough, being attacked by those brutes had given her some of her fire back. If she could fight off one brutish man and intimidate another, she had to be capable enough for the task at hand. “Should we see our luggage is packed and ready for shore?”

  “I believe we should.” Avery escorted her back to her cabin. As he walked away, she had a suspicion that someone was watching her, but she could see no one in the hall.

  One of those cads, no doubt, she thought.

  Jonathan was roused by the sound of a scuffle somewhere nearby. By the time he got up and into the hall, he saw the two men from before cursing and fleeing down the corridor from Audrey’s room. Before he could go into her room to check on her, he had to duck back into his own—Sheffield was coming.

  He listened to her tell Sheffield the whole story. She handled it so casually he couldn’t help but swell with pride, but he was furious that those two men had tried to harm her and that he hadn’t acted in time to stop them. He waited for Sheffield to pass by his cabin, then slipped outside and walked to the steps that led down into the crew quarters.

  He glanced through the gloom of the dim interior deck, studying the hanging hammocks that filled the area, and then he froze. There at the back, a man was huddled on a stool, clutching a hand to his chest and muttering curses.

  “Bloody little bitch!” he snapped, holding his wrist tenderly. It was clearly broken.

  Bloody hell, Audrey, you did it. You used the move I showed you. Seeing the proof of her defense made him want to grin, but the fury within him was still too strong. He strode over to the man.

  “Crewman.”

  “Aye, what do ya want?” he grumbled.

  “I’m told we are almost to Calais. I’m just seeing to the crew and thanking them for their service.”

  Without warning, he gripped the man’s hand. The crewman screamed.

  “Thank you.” He shook the man’s hand hard. “Thank you for being so attentive to the passengers.” He shook it again. “Especially the lady on board.”

  By this point the man was on his knees, openly weeping.

  He dropped the man’s hand in disgust and walked off, returning to his berth to await their arrival in port.

  Half an hour later, the Lady’s Splendor docked. Avery, Daniel, and Audrey walked down the gangplank and stepped onto the docks of Calais’s main port. Audrey tried to take in everything she saw as they left and hired a coach to take them out of town. Something she saw might matter later.

  Daniel and Avery were silent, but neither appeared tense. They chose to answer her questions as politely but as briefly as they could. Once Audrey realized neither man was interested in conversation, she focused her thoughts on the view outside the window.

  By the time they reached their destination, it was evening. The setting sun washed the residences and shops with a dark red hue, and it made Audrey’s stomach turn with a deep sense of unease. The coachman helped them unload their trunks and escorted them inside the inn.

  A wooden sign read Le Lys Blanc. This was the place. Audrey followed Daniel and Avery into the main taproom. There were plenty of people already present eating dinner. Audrey took in the occupants of the room, surreptitiously watching them all as they moved toward the back of the inn.

  There was a couple in the corner who caught her attention, not for any reason that would give her concern, but mainly because she’d never seen such a tall and broad-shouldered woman before. The man with her was smaller than she was, yet they were eating dinner and holding hands, speaking softly and smiling. It was rather sweet, though the woman’s taste in clothes did leave much to be desired. Still, it was obvious the couple were happy. She couldn’t help but overhear their conversation as they passed. They spoke in French, but not Parisian French. The dialect was more provincial.

  “Benjamin, we must bring the children here to the seaside.” The woman blushed. “Once we have children.”

  “But of course, my love.” The man’s eyes twinkled. “Lovely place for children. Lovely, like you.”

  They were quite in love, and Audrey’s heart twisted with painful longing. If they can find love, why can’t Jonathan and I?

  “Audrey, this way,” Avery said, breaking her from her thoughts. She followed him and Daniel upstairs to a pair of rooms. She hesitated when she saw the single bed, but Daniel smiled gently.

  “Fear not. I will sleep on the floor.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “I
’ve slept in far worse places and in far worse conditions,” Daniel assured her. “This floor would rank somewhere in the middle of all the places I’ve been forced to sleep.” He set his small travel case down and walked to the door just as Avery joined them.

  “Ah, Russell, just in time. I have to take my leave and locate the man who will get us into the reformist group. You should stay here and wait until I return.” Daniel paused, his hand on the doorjamb as he looked back at them. “Be careful tonight, Russell. Remember, we are in unfriendly territory.” He seemed to hesitate, as though he wished to say something more. Audrey felt the knot in her stomach grow even tighter as he left.

  “Avery.” She tucked her arm in his as they stared out the window to watch dusk settle over Calais.

  He turned to face her. “What’s wrong?”

  “Something isn’t right. Can’t you feel it?”

  He nodded. “I do. Every time I leave London. Stay here and do not leave this room until I return. I need to see to something.”

  Audrey agreed, but her stomach was knotting violently. She swore she could still feel the ground rolling underneath her, even though they were no longer on the ship. As she watched Avery go, she couldn’t help the feeling of panic creeping in around her. Something was wrong. Terribly wrong.

  Avery stepped outside the little inn and noticed a boy begging for coins.

  “You, boy,” he said gently in French, waving the child over to him.

  “Yes, monsieur?” The boy’s eyes widened as Avery removed several coins from a small pouch and held them up.

  “You know where the soldiers stay here?” he asked.

  The boy nodded. “Down by the docks, monsieur. They have a place where they sleep and practice shooting.”

  “Do a favor for me and I’ll give you all of these coins.” Avery waved the pieces to catch the boy’s focus again.

  “Name it!” The boy’s hungry eyes and dirty face spoke of his desperation, and it tugged at Avery’s heart. The lad was probably starving.

  “First, you go and buy yourself a bit of bread, a little cake, and something to drink. Then go to where the soldiers stay on the docks and keep a close eye. If they start to leave, you come here straightaway and tell me which way they are headed, understood? There’s more coin in it if you do.”