The Earl's Secret

by TERRI BRISBIN

  “Ah, so Lord MacLerie had met him previously, too. I thought I noticed a look between them at the dinner, before their outside conversation.”

  He laughed then, in spite of his concerns. Anna continued to do somewhat inappropriate things even as she tried to be the consummate lady and teach her sister the manners and comportment of polite society. Listening at open doors and occasionally using an unsuitable expletive were her two biggest faults and not acceptable even in the more relaxed world of Edinburgh.

  “Your ear was not positioned correctly to hear all the details, then?” Nathaniel tried to look stern, but failed in his attempt.

  “The noise of the coaches rolling by in the street made clarity more difficult,” she replied dryly. “I missed most of their conversation due to the noise and simply getting the doorman away so I could move closer.”

  They both laughed then and Nathaniel realized that, in spite of disagreements and momentarily lapses, they still shared a common bond between them. They knew each other’s shortcomings, strengths and secrets, and would protect them.

  “You may not find my plan as humorous as my inadequacies, dear friend,” she warned. “I will use his presence here to gain information, much as he planned to do so against us.”

  “Anna. Please do not consider such an undertaking.”

  He would drop back to his knees if he thought it would work. One look at the wicked expression now planted firmly on her face and he knew his efforts to turn her from her plan would fail.

  “I have been thinking back on what I have revealed to him in our conversations. If I rely on ‘Mr. Archer’s’ words, which is all I am left with, I do not believe that Lord Treybourne will use the school as a target. He seemed quite undone by his visit there when he realized what our goals were and who our students were.”

  “Undone?” He did not ever remember seeing Trey “undone” by anything. “How did he respond?”

  “He was completely the gentleman to the girls, especially when Molly served us tea. Then, a short time later, he withdrew.”

  A frown rested on Anna’s forehead as she contemplated the visit. Nathaniel wondered at the significance, if any, for any member of the peerage would be outraged to be served by a maid so visibly in the family way and to be handed the knowledge that there was no legitimate union behind the condition. It would be unthinkable to put a member of polite society in that situation. She shook her head and did not speak for a moment.

  “He apologized at the dinner for his impolite reaction.”

  “Anna, please let this go. Let him go without pursuing any action that might endanger our activities. We know the Tories’ aims and their plans are no secret.”

  “I cannot, Nathaniel. If I were a man, I would have called him out long before this, but that is not an option open to the fairer sex. If he came to use you to find Goodfellow, I intend to return the favor.”

  “Anna…” he moaned, leaning his head into his hands and feeling the strong urge to find a bottle of whisky. “Now that you know, you should be going as far away from him in the other direction as possible.”

  “Discovering the specifics of Lord Treybourne and his party’s aims and intentions can only help our cause…and Goodfellow’s arguments, Nathaniel. Surely you see that?”

  Actually, no matter how he thought on this, he could only see death and destruction. Well, not that dire of an outcome, but Anna would be hurt, again. She could not survive another debacle.

  “If you choose to follow this path of folly, Robert and I may not be able to protect you, Anna.”

  “You and Robert? How is he involved?” She stepped closer and he sank onto the couch to avoid her. “What did Lord MacLerie tell you?” she demanded.

  “Anna, he came to me when he thought he recognized Trey. Robert only spoke directly to him when his attraction to you became apparent. Warned the man off from doing anything untoward.”

  Instead of angering her as he thought it would, Anna simply nodded and smiled. Her words revealed the worst of it.

  “Since you and Lord MacLerie are so intent on keeping Lord Treybourne’s secret, then I hope you will offer me the same courtesy and support as you give our enemy.”

  “Anna—”

  “I do not intend to encourage him to linger here, but I will seek out anything that will help our fight. And I expect you to remain silent, as silent as the grave, about my intentions and my other identity. For all Lord Treybourne knows, I still believe him to be his own not-so-humble lackey.”

  Her directness and lack of dissembling unnerved him. Part of him would love to have her enthusiasm and drive, in his home and in his bed, but the larger part of him wondered if he could marry such a woman. No matter the number of years they’d been acquainted, no matter the successes and failures behind them, he could do nothing to control her actions when it became her wishes against his. She believed herself an equal in their dealings and, in many ways, they were, but he wanted a wife he could control. A marriage as it should be.

  With that realization, his burden lightened and he laughed aloud. Grasping her hand, he tugged her down to sit next to him. Once there, he lifted their clasped hands and kissed the back of hers.

  “I will always love you, Anna, and I think you know that already. Know also that I will always be here if you need me.” He watched as her eyes filled with tears at his declaration. “But I must say that I pity poor Trey now that you have set your sights on him. The puir mon has no idea of what he has done or what you can do when you set your mind to a task.”

  “The puir mon indeed!” she said. With a brisk rub at her eyes, she stood and smiled at him.

  Nathaniel stood and took his leave then, knowing that they were still in each other’s good graces. And knowing that Trey stood no chance of completing his task now that Anna knew the truth.

  Three days after the article was published, David sent word around to the school saying he would arrive at noon. Even watching the messenger leave with it in his hand brought about such a feeling of anticipation in him that he berated himself for being foolish. But, fool he was in wanting to enjoy her company before he finished everything here and left. Forge gave him every expectation that the end of their quest—both to find Goodfellow and now to discover the links between Miss Fairchild—would be successful very, very soon.

  The invitation for him to join them at the Assembly Rooms several days hence, which had arrived on his desk from Lady MacLerie this morning, surprised him. David didn’t think that MacLerie would allow his wife to extend such a request after their conversation. Even so, he should decline it, considering that Edinburgh was crawling now with people he knew. The time to leave was quickly approaching.

  His plan to have Harley pack a basket for a meal al fresco, perhaps in the small park near Holyrood Palace, was dashed by the arrival of the now usual thunderstorms. Blasted weather! Did it never stop raining here?

  If it was not the rain, it was the haar, the inhabitants’ name for the sea fog that could roll out of the firth and cover the city in minutes and without warning. Once gone from here, he would surely not miss the dampness, for at least the south of England had days of glorious sunshine and warm breezes to offer between bouts of wet and wild weather.

  Now, he sat in the carriage, at the side of the High Street, its hood raised against the weather, waiting for noon to arrive. David lifted his watch from his waistcoat pocket and checked it again. Only five minutes had passed, making him twenty minutes early. He lifted the cover from the window just in time to see lightning slash across the sky, unnerving the horses and most of those on the street around him. The crash of thunder that followed rumbled through the streets and echoed down the closes and wynds of the Old Town. The carriage jostled then; the horses were becoming difficult to calm in this weather. David climbed out and yelled to the driver. “Take the horses and seek shelter from this.” The wind picked up in strength, so he called out louder. “Return for me in an hour or when it is safe.”

  He did not
stand to watch them leave, for he could feel the rain pelting him. David ran up the steps and knocked on the door of the school. He tucked himself in the doorway and out of the storm while he waited for someone to answer.

  “Mr. Archer?” Mrs. Dobbs opened the door and peeked out. “Come in out of this rain.” Once she moved back, he entered and waited for some of the water to drip off. Removing his hat, he placed it on a table near the door.

  “I sent the carriage for shelter,” he said. “The lightning—” a flash lit up the shadowed room as he mentioned it “—is spooking the horses.”

  “It isna doing much for my nerves, either,” Mrs. Dobbs replied.

  “This is my first time here in Edinburgh in the late summer. Are these storms a common occurrence?” David stepped away from the door, moving toward the larger room off the entryway and expecting Anna’s arrival at any moment.

  “Weel, they dinna happen every August, but every couple of years they seem to blow in. Aboot five years or so ago, the lightning was so fierce it caused fires. And if my memory serves me, the storm started just as this one did, building with the heat of the day.” The housekeeper shuddered as yet another bolt lit up the sky outside and shook the house with its accompanying thunder.

  “Hopefully, this will not follow that pattern.”

  Although when he compared today’s with the previous storms this week, he recognized that this one had a dangerous feel to it. Even just standing in it for a few moments, he could smell something in the air that made the hairs on the back of his neck tingle. The storm pulsed with an angry power.

  “I have arrived a bit early for my appointment with Miss Fairchild.” The housekeeper stammered and glanced toward the door and then back at him. Something about this was not right. “Isn’t she here?”

  “Weel, Mr. Archer, the lass didna ken of yer visit for yer note arrived after she’d left on her errands. But, Miss Anna said she would return by now.” Another glance at the darkened windows. “But she hasna. I am worried about her being oot in the storm alone.”

  He could not have heard her correctly. “Out? Alone? In this storm? Please tell me you are jesting?”

  From the sheepish expression and the nervous way she twisted the long white apron over her dress, he knew it was as bad as that. “I told her no’ to go, but the lass can be stubborn when it involves one of the gels. I am sure she wi’ be back in a scant bit.”

  David looked at the windows shuttered against the rains and winds, listened to the sound of the powerful storm and considered the options for a moment. He had to find her and make certain she was safe. “Where did she go? Did she have a carriage or chair?”

  “Wait. One of the gels gave her the message. Molly!” she called out, running to the farthest door. “Molly!”

  The young girl he’d met waddled into the room and whispered to Mrs. Dobbs while peeking at him around the housekeeper’s stout form. Then with a quick curtsy, the girl ran from the room.

  “Molly said she went to Lochlend Close to meet with a girl who might need help.”

  A pregnant servant girl, in other words.

  “Where is Lochlend Close?” He already had his hand on the doorknob by the time she reached him. “Which direction and where on the close did she go?”

  “Go down past Canongate Kirk. It is three or four closes past the kirk. The one on the north side of High Street. Molly did not know more than that.”

  Bloody hell, would he ever find her with such scarce directions? He would have to, it was as simple as that. He turned the knob and was nearly knocked down by the strong winds buffeting against the door. With Mrs. Dobbs’s help, he pulled it closed. At the last moment, she thrust something into his hands and the door closed with a bang.

  He spared a glance down to discover one of the long coats made from canvas that many here wore as protection against the frequent rains. All it took to convince him of the need for it was a burst of wind against him, and David tugged it on and hooked the latches across the front. It would not cover his head, but the water ran off it and would make it easier to move.

  With his hand and arm blocking some of the downpour and wind from his eyes, he ran down High Street toward Holyrood Palace until he found Canongate Church on his left. Continuing on, he counted three and looked for the wall plaque with the street name on it. It did not match the name given him so he ran on to the next, and then the next, until he found Lochlend Close. Turning in, he stumbled down the close and looked for Anna.

  Closes in Edinburgh were usually closed-in spaces, but this one seemed to go as far as the next street over from the High Street, and open there. Tall, stone buildings towered over the narrow, open space. Although some of Edinburgh’s most fashionable addresses and personages were housed along the closes of High Street, this close was a more humble one. The houses and other buildings were in disrepair and showed signs of neglect and abandonment. Some tenants, no doubt those who could afford to, moved to the New Town to escape the decay bound to happen.

  David searched for some sign of her along the cobblestoned path, but no one was out in this storm but he. He could not go door to door, so he did the most obvious thing…

  “Anna!” he called out as loud as he could. Walking a few paces down the path, he yelled again, “Anna!” He moved away from the buildings to see farther down the close, but the torrents forced him to take cover. He waited for a pause in it and called out again.

  Lightning shot through the sky, over and over, almost tearing the sky in two and making the dark day like the brightest morning he’d seen. This time, it had a target, for he heard and felt the force of it hitting somewhere close by. The thunder that followed was joined by the crash of whatever it had hit. Sweet Jesus! He had to find her.

  Calling out her name, he scrambled from building to building, and just when he thought he was in the wrong place, he saw her off in the distance, leaning against the side of a three-story tenement. Was she hurt? Did she not hear him?

  “Anna! Stay there,” he called out.

  When lightning flashed above him again, he waited until the noise passed before calling again. He was only a building away when the next burst of lightning struck. Drawn by the brilliant burst of light above him, he watched as it hit the roof of the building and shattered the stone gable on the front. In horror, he realized that the falling chunks of stone would fall close to Anna.

  With a speed he would have thought impossible, he ran along the front of the building, grabbed her as he moved past and dragged her out of the way. The debris landed only seconds, and a few feet, behind them. Out of breath, he pressed her against the side of the building until he could be certain nothing more fell from above them. When he turned her to face him, her eyes were wide with fear and her hair tumbled loose from its usual well-kept state. She clutched at him as the reaction caused a panic in her.

  “Are you hurt?” he asked, searching her face for any sign of injury. His heart raced inside his chest, the sight of the stones tumbling to the ground heading toward her still fresh in his mind,

  “No, only frightened,” she said.

  He fought the urge for a moment and then gave in. David tilted his head and took her mouth in a kiss that spoke clearly of concern and desire, but even more about possession. She clung to him and then, a scant moment later, she returned his passion, touching her tongue to his as he tasted her deeply. Lost to everything but her kiss, he continued to claim her mouth over and over until the crash of another lightning strike broke into their dreamlike moment.

  The storm poured down around them and Anna was shaking. Leaning back with an eye toward the perilous old building, he looked around to see if there was shelter nearby. The lightning continued, so he did not think it prudent to chance a run all the way back to the school from here. Realizing that the same overhang of stone that had broken apart on the front of the building was actually their best protection on the side, he took her hand and guided her to the side of stone tenement away from the gusts of wind and slicing rain
s. David was not completely at ease with their location, but it should shield them from the worst of the weather. Once there he gave her some room and tried to catch his own breath, labored now due to his own fear for her, running from the school and the desire that surged through him even now.

  “I thought…I thought you…” he whispered. “I saw the bolt knock the stones free and thought you would be hit.” He lifted her sodden hair from her face and brushed it back, touching her cheeks now, and when she lifted her face to look at him, he kissed her.

  This kiss was different from their first one. Not as frantic, but just as much about claiming, and as she leaned into his arms, he wrapped his around her and held her closer. Covering her mouth and touching her lips with his tongue, he teased her until she opened once more and allowed him entrance. The noise of the storm faded once more and he savored the feel and taste of her until she drew back. She could not move far from him before she touched the wall, but he felt it and released her. She gazed up at him, her eyes awash in a confused blend of fear, desire, anger and sadness.

  “Thank you for saving me from the stones,” she whispered.

  “Your servant always, madam,” he said with a nod, trying to make light of his actions. “But what could have been so important that it brought you out into this storm?”

  She stiffened in his embrace at his words and he realized that she took them as a rebuke. Well, they were, but he had no standing in her life to issue such a reprimand. David remained close to keep the rain from hitting her, but let his hands fall to his sides, no longer touching her.

  “I was looking for someone who needed help. She told one of the girls that she was increasing and would be turned out and had no place to go.”

  “So you risked your safety to find her?” He would never forget the sight of those stones falling toward her from the rooftop above.

  “It was only raining when I left and I thought I had adequate time to meet her and return to the school before you arrived.”

  “Did you find her?”