He fought to keep a hold of his patience. Everything within him was screaming at him to find out just what the Frenchman had done to her so that he could go after him and make sure that he never came anywhere near Thea again. Instead he gave her hands a gentle squeeze to focus her attention on him and waited for her to speak.
Thea studied the calm authority in Rupert’s face and the words came tumbling out. She was not quite sure what she should feel. Now that her tears had dried and the safety and warmth of Ridings had registered on her shattered senses, she had gone strangely blank and didn’t seem able to summon any emotion at all.
Marcus appeared in the doorway. “He is upstairs with John and the doctor. The housekeeper has gone to buy provisions.”
Rupert gave him a dark look that warned him not to go anywhere until he had heard what had happened and turned his attention back to Thea.
Quietly, she began to recount the events of the afternoon with a bit more clarity, culminating with her arrival back at Ridings.
“You didn’t see Fornier anywhere near here?”
“No. When the crowd descended on him, he hurried in the opposite direction. I was only there for a couple of more minutes before another carriage arrived and I was brought here. I don’t know if he has been outside since.”
“I will go and check to see if anyone has seen him.” Marcus vanished as silently as he had arrived, and left Rupert to comfort Thea.
“I am going to get the doctor to check you over while he is here,” he announced and glanced down at her legs.
“I am fine, just a little sore, that’s all.” Right now, all she needed was to be held by Rupert again but she didn’t know how to ask him or what to say. “I need to get dry. While I was out it started to rain and I am all wet.” She tried to stand upright only to wince as her sore muscles protested against the sudden movement.
“Thea?”
“I am fine,” she assured him through gritted teeth. She had long since learned that if she focused on something a little distance away, gritted her teeth and forced herself through the pain, she could pretty much get wherever she wanted to go and blank out the discomfort.
Rupert watched her struggle to keep her discomfort off her face. He had no idea what to do. Should he help her and be rebuffed for coddling her? Should he help her anyway? His inability to do anything of use irritated him. He hated to see her in pain and be unable to help her and, more importantly, he hated the indecision he always seemed to feel around her. There was little he could offer her by way of reassurance because he had no idea how long she would feel the repercussions of her ordeal but he was at a loss to know what to say.
“Thea, I am sorry that I wasn’t here for you. I know you are angry with me, and I don’t blame you, but I am damned if I am going to sit here and watch you suffer. Where are you going?” Rupert demanded as he followed her out into the hallway. He shared a concerned look with Marcus but was hardly in a position to tell Thea what to do.
“I am going upstairs so I can get out of these wet clothes and get warm,” she whispered but didn’t stop her rhythmic steps of determination. Rupert followed. When she got half way up the stairs he couldn’t stand it any longer and swept her off her feet. She made no protest as he carried her swiftly toward her room where he deposited her before the fire.
“Right, tell me what to do next. Do you want me to summon Argus to prepare a hot bath? Will that help your legs?”
“It should,” she barely got the words out before Rupert marched toward the bell pull and yanked on it several times. He had no idea where the blasted butler was now but if he had to draw a bath for Thea himself, then that is what he would do.
“How long will you be in such pain? Do you need some laudanum for the discomfort?”
“Rupert, I am fine,” Thea assured him, but in reality was anything but. She watched him sit in the chair opposite and brace his elbows on his knees. He ran frustrated hands through his hair which lay in tousled abandon on his head. “What has happened has happened Rupert, there is nothing you can do to change it now.”
“I know, but I should have been there Thea.”
“I should have stayed in the shop like you told me to,” she replied gently. “It is too late for regrets. Now, tell me, what did you learn out about the Frenchman you are after?”
“He came after you,” Rupert sighed. “We think he is waiting for some kind of contact, whether it is financial or someone who can help to get him out of the country we are not sure yet, but we know that we have to move soon if we are to capture him before he heads toward France.”
“Do you think he is going to leave England?” Thea fervently hoped so but it wasn’t for herself. She studied the dark circles beneath Rupert’s eyes with a frown. She prayed that they could bring the investigation to a close soon if only for Rupert’s sake. She had experienced first-hand the kind of things he dealt with on a regular basis and couldn’t understand just how much strength of character it took to deal with such matters on a day-to-day basis and not go quietly out of one’s mind. The activities of this afternoon had brought forth a new found respect for the man he had turned out to be. Now, if only she could keep him.
“Can you tell me about the men he was with? Can you describe them for me?”
Thea gave him as much information as she could remember and lapsed into thoughtful silence. “I hope this comes to an end soon.”
“I promise you here and now Thea that once this is over, the first thing we are going to do is work our way through that wish list of things you want to see in London.” He meant every word of it and offered her a sorry smile which she returned readily.
“There is one other thing I really need right now,” she added softly.
“Anything, Thea, just name it.” He felt partly guilty for not having turned up to collect her, but completely responsible for the suffering she was experiencing because of her injuries.
“I could really do with a hug.”
Within seconds she was swept into a bear hug that chased the shadows away. For the first time all afternoon she felt safe and knew that it had nothing to do with her situation; it was purely down to the man who held her as though he never wanted to let her go.
He held her until her bath arrived at which time he took his leave of her and met with Marcus, who was waiting in the hallway. His colleague nodded toward the Library and waited while Rupert closed the door before he recounted what the men on watch had witnessed.
“We have to snatch him the next time we set eyes on him,” Rupert growled. “He is circling this house like a shark and it is only a matter of time before he gets bored with waiting. I don’t want this investigation being brought to a close here, Marcus.”
“I know. I have spoken to Sir Hugo, who is readying everyone. He has said that he wants everyone in position to strike tonight.”
“Good,” Rupert fervently prayed that all would go to plan and they could get this particular Frenchman, and his associates, off the streets.
“What I don’t understand is why Fornier is being so visible,” Rupert sighed before Marcus left.
“I know. It is almost as if he is waiting for something, or someone, around here.”
“It may be me,” Rupert growled. It was a fact that didn’t bother him in the least but, as far as he knew, he hadn’t had any previous altercation with the man to warrant some sort of personal vendetta, and had certainly done no more in the investigation than everyone else in the Star Elite.
“What do you think he is after?”
Rupert’s thoughts turned to John, who continued to regain his strength and was at least able to sit up for several hours at a time. He was one of London’s most benevolent philanthropists. Was that the connection?
“I don’t know but Fornier isn’t stupid enough to goad us into taking him down.”
Rupert barely registered his colleagues’ words. He was busy thinking carefully over the events of the evening when John had been shot. Had the bullet really been in
tended for John? A tendril of suspicion began to unfurl deep inside and he began to rethink over every part of his investigation into the French spies.
He was one of the Star Elite and had done his job in exactly the same way as the rest of the men he worked with, yet they had been out in the night on watch all alone. Any one of them could have been taken out, shot, injured or killed at any time but they had all been unchallenged. Even Rupert’s journey to Leicestershire to fetch Thea had gone relatively unnoticed. He knew, because he had doubled back constantly and seen neither hide nor hare of the Frenchman. He was confident of his suspicions to declare that nobody had followed him either to Leicester or back again. So that meant that either Fornier knew what he looked like and knew of his association with the Star Elite, which wasn’t implausible but was difficult to understand given that Marcus was also on watch at Ridings, and came and went freely and hadn’t been targeted. Or, John Weatherby was the intended target of the bullet. But why? What had Thea’s uncle gotten himself involved in? Was he the Frenchman’s financier and had refused to accommodate the Frenchman’s demands for cash, and had earned himself a bullet as a warning?
Rupert hated to think that Thea’s uncle could be involved in such a sordid crime as high treason, but why else would Fornier shoot the man on his own doorstep?
One thing was for certain, he wouldn’t find out sitting on the main staircase. Having assured himself that Thea was still in the bath, Rupert made his way to John’s room and moved toward the bed.
“John? John? It’s time to wake up,” Rupert shook the man’s shoulder for several moments until he blearily opened his eyes and blinked sleepily up at him. “I need to ask you some questions.”
“Me?” John yawned and pushed himself onto his elbows. “What is it? What’s wrong?” He glanced around the room in search of Thea, or some evidence that something was amiss, but everything was just the same as it had been when he had fallen asleep. The only thing that was wrong was the threatening stance of the tall man hovering menacingly beside the bed.
“Yes, you.” Rupert refused to be drawn by the befuddled expression in the man’s eyes. The only reason he stood patiently beside the bed while John woke up properly was in deference to Thea’s relationship to him. Otherwise he would have hauled the man to his feet and shaken him until he had told him everything he wanted to know.
“What is it? What’s wrong? Is Thea alright?” John’s voice grew sharp as sleep left him, however he made no attempt to get out of bed. Rupert wasn’t a man to hit someone who was already down and besides, John was no fighter. He knew when to cower for his own safety. Rather than show his fear though, he took a moment to sit upright in bed and settle the covers neatly over his lap.
Rupert sighed and shifted his weight to capture John’s attention. Once he was looking at him, Rupert’s face turned hard. “I want you to think very carefully before you answer me.”
“Go on.” John’s gaze was steady and without rancour as he waited.
“I want you to tell me about what you have paid money toward of late. Which charities have benefitted from your benevolence? Is there any particular worthy cause that has captured your interest?”
John frowned and studied the covers. “I haven’t been investing in anything of late. There is an orphanage I support, and a couple of other organisations, but nothing that would warrant particular interest.”
“Has anyone approached you to provide finances for anything other than a charitable organisation?”
John frowned at that. “Look, what is this all about? I have nothing to hide, Rupert. If you wish to look over my financial affairs you are more than welcome to.”
Rupert studied the honesty in John’s eyes and knew that he was telling the truth as far as he believed it. “Do you decide what happens with your finances, or do you have a man of business?”
John sighed. “I deal with my own affairs. I haven’t gotten where I have by relying on anyone to make decisions for me. I am in full control of my finances, I can assure you.”
“Have you ever heard of anyone called Fornier?”
John frowned and considered that. He knew that Fornier was the Frenchman the Star Elite were after.
“I am not financing him, I can assure you.”
“Have you seen or heard anything that might lead you to suspect that someone in your circles may be financing him?”
“What makes you think that he is being financed and not bankrolling his own activities?”
“For several reasons, not least the long line of rather large, and very expensive, houses Fornier and his associates have purchased between here and Cornwall, and the large number of people who have been employed to provide paperwork, safe houses and contacts the Frenchmen have been using while in the country.”
“You think it is me?” John’s voice was incredulous. As far as he was aware he had never done anything to give anyone even the remotest suspicion that he would consider such a horrifying criminal act. “I do not know of anyone who would do something so odious. There are a few suspicious characters around Whites, but they haven’t done anything that would indicate they would be up to such nefarious activities. As far as I know, I do not have anyone who hates me sufficiently enough to want me dead. Are you suggesting that the bullet was meant for me?”
Rupert slowly nodded. “I cannot see how Fornier would know what I look like. I have been working undercover for some time and, with a team of several men, none of whom have been targeted, it doesn’t look plausible that Fornier would randomly single me out. Why was he in the area? As far as we know he has no links to Mayfair.”
“Do you think he was watching me and followed us back here?”
“Yes, but I don’t know why yet.” Rupert sighed and slumped down into the chair beside the bed. He was fairly confident that John wasn’t involved in anything to do with the French, and was immensely relieved about it. He blanked out the small warning voice that asked him if he was discounting John because of his association to Thea. “It looks as though someone is out to kill you John. Unfortunately, now that Thea is in residence, she is also in danger.” He recounted what had happened to Thea that afternoon and saw anger flood John’s face.
“I adore Thea. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for her,” John assured him. “If I thought for one second that she would be in any danger, I would never have asked her to come here, I promise you.”
Rupert fought bitter frustration at the fact that they had been talking for half an hour and had yet to cover any ground. “Think carefully, John. Someone in your circles wants you dead for some reason, and is most probably supporting the Frenchman we are after. Who could that be? Who do you socialise with who could be so duplicitous?”
John felt his head begin to whirl and wondered how in the hell things could have come to this. He had felt relatively reassured that Rupert had been the intended target and the gunman had been connected to his work with the Star Elite. It made him feel physically sick to think that he had been the one who had been in the gunman’s line of fire all along. More importantly, that he had drawn Thea right into the middle of it all on the night of the shooting by demanding Rupert find Thea and bring her to his house.
“The only person I have ever had any altercation with is Frances, Thea’s mother. She was acutely angry when I threw her out of Weatherby Hall but I cannot see why she would want me dead after all this time. I refuse to believe that she could even be able to afford to purchase a horse or carriage, much less hire a gunman to kill me. The stipend I give her isn’t worth that much.” He shook his head for emphasis. “No, it cannot be Frances.”
“Does Frances have any relatives?”
“Not as far as I am aware, no. I cannot conceive of why she would want to abduct Thea either. Frances is nasty but not that bad, surely to goodness?”
If he was honest, he couldn’t see Frances wanting to arrange for John to be shot, or Thea to be abducted, especially after all this time.
He couldn’t lose sight of t
he fact that Thea’s description of her abductors included a coachman in a top hat, and that was definitely linked to Fornier.
With this in mind, he considered Thea’s attempted abduction a bit more closely. If Fornier wanted her dead, he could have just shot her while she was walking by the side of the road. She would have been in plain view of the coachman, or anyone who wanted to shoot her from within the carriage. The fact that he had doggedly pursued her, waited until she was tired, and then tried to snatch her off the streets pointed to him wanting her for a particular reason. He either intended to use her to draw the Star Elite out, or wanted to use Thea to his hands on a significant amount of money.
That being the case, why shoot John? He had been hit in the chest, not the leg or arm. An inch or two nearer to the centre of his chest and he would have been shot straight through the heart and killed right where he stood.
He pushed to his feet with a weary sigh. At the door to the room he turned and glanced back at John. “While you are sitting here, I would like you to think carefully about who could feel the need to target you.”
“Do you think my shooting is related to the Star Elite business at all?”
“I think the two incidents are related, yes, but I just don’t know how yet.”
John watched Rupert leave and puffed out his cheeks. He had never really considered just how difficult, dangerous and complex the Star Elite’s work was. How Rupert went about getting to the truth was anyone’s guess. Still, he frowned at the wall as he began to recount just who he had come into contact with of late who would want him dead.
Rupert checked on Thea and found her fast asleep on the bed. He took a moment to cover her over with a blanket and kissed the top of her head before he quietly made his way out. At the top of the stairs he spied Harry into the hallway below and hurried down to join him.
“What is it?” The concern on Harry’s face alerted him to the fact that there had been significant movement in the investigation. The gun that was visible in Harry’s hand warned him that trouble was afoot and he wouldn’t be able to head back upstairs and spend what was left of the evening with Thea, as much as he might like to.
Ghost of Christmas Past Page 17