"Poor little things," Adrienne murmured as she approached.
He glanced up. "At last. I thought you'd never see me and come outside." Rising, he put the nest back into the leafy branches. "They're willow warbler eggs, ready to hatch. I think they'll be all right."
"Won't they die now that a human has touched the nest?"
"When I was a boy, my father showed me how to care for injured birds and animals, and none of them was rejected by its mother." He shrugged. "It's a myth as far as I can tell."
She inclined her head, eyes lively with interest. "Where did you grow up? What sort of family was it?"
"I don't really think that we have time for a chat about my childhood." Nathan began to walk rapidly away toward the garden maze, speaking over his shoulder. "Come on. We need to talk."
Adrienne hurried after him. Orange-tip butterflies were on the wing in the soft light, and she was delighted to see how many flowers were in bloom. Most were growing wild, even between cracks in the stone walkways, as if nature had found a way to triumph over Harms Castle's general state of dilapidation. "Oh, Nathan," she marveled, "have you ever seen a prettier twilight?"
Having already revealed more of himself than seemed wise, he hesitated before replying. "This is the gloaming, you know. One of those rare times when the light is brushed with gold."
Her heart beat in a way she now recognized. "How very poetic you are. Why don't you tell me your plans for Frakes-Hogg while I cut flowers to take inside to Lady Thomasina. That way, if anyone sees us, they'll think you're just keeping me company."
"I've just returned from Winchester." He spoke casually, strolling past her as she bent to snip ox-eye daisies and dusky cranesbill. "I've been paying the butcher's son, Dickie, to keep an eye on our quarry, and when I met him today, he had some interesting information. It seems that yesterday Frakes-Hogg went into the White Ostrich Inn with a handsome young man Dickie couldn't identify. They had drinks and talked for a long while."
Adrienne moved on to a clump of honeysuckle while Nathan stared thoughtfully at the distant meadow. "Perhaps he's simply made a friend during the time he's been in town," she suggested. "Would that be so unusual? He's probably bored."
"Mmm. Yes, you're undoubtedly right. It's just that the other possibilities are so much more intriguing. A plot and all that..."
"I think you're giving Frakes-Hogg too much credit. What else did Dickie tell you?"
"He said that Frakes-Hogg has developed one regular habit. When the weather is fair, he goes for a walk at about four o'clock—past the cathedral, then around the wall of Wolvesey Castle that skirts the River Itchen." Nathan paused, waiting until Adrienne turned with a few bright buttercups in her hand. He held her gaze and continued, "I think that would be our best plan for putting you in his way. It would be outdoors, in broad daylight, so I'll be absolutely certain no harm can come to you."
She made a fetching picture in her high-waisted muslin gown, a wide basket of tumbled blooms anchored in the crook of her arm. As she considered his words, Adrienne's eyes slowly began to sparkle. "Yes. Yes, I think you're right! In fact, why don't I take the offensive and approach Walter? I'll march up to him and demand to know why he's been threatening me, and why he's in Winchester!"
"Dear chit, let us not forget that he is a large, evil man and you are a slight, though feisty, female. I think we'll have a better chance of getting him to misbehave if you pretend to be shocked to see him. He should think that he can take the opportunity presented to him to do whatever it is he's been dreaming of doing. I'll be armed and hiding nearby—you'll know where—and as soon as he lays a glove on you, I'll appear and that will be the end of Frakes-Hogg."
Her brow wrinkled. "What do you mean by that last bit? You aren't going to just kill him outright for accosting me, are you? You could end up going to the gallows yourself!"
"No, I won't kill him, though I wish I could. If he tries to harm you, it may come to that." A shadow seemed to pass across his face. "I do hope to have him taken into custody. I have all the evidence, including some of the notes he wrote you. I mean to make certain that Walter Frakes-Hogg won't bother you again."
"And then your job will be finished?"
Nathan regarded her delicate back as she reached down to cut red campion. The nape of her neck looked sweetly damp; soft chestnut tendrils had fallen loose to decorate her hairline. He felt a sudden throb in his groin and stepped backward. Have a care, Raveneau, he thought. She's more dangerous than she appears! When he spoke, his voice was husky. "I think that depends on the outcome of our adventure. I cannot leave unless I am satisfied that Walter Frakes-Hogg cannot harm you."
"Well, then," Adrienne said brightly, "for both our sakes, I will hope that you get your wish. If only there were a way to remove him from the lives of his daughters as well...."
"Shall we agree to act on Thursday, then? Better to wait until market day is past—"
"Fine!" She put on a smile, dimpling for added emphasis. "I should go in now. Her ladyship will be looking for me. Ever since the night she had that dream, I've felt very sympathetic toward her." As they walked, Adrienne added, "I always get myself into trouble this way. I begin to care for people, like Frakes-Hogg's children, and everything becomes complicated...."
"That reminds me—" He took the gathering basket from her as they emerged from the boxwood maze. "Do you have an answer for me about Frakes-Hogg's motivation in all this?"
"I told you already, he's a bully."
He sighed. "Would you be kind enough to enlighten me further?"
"It's as if he has no heart—and certainly no respect for women. When I rejected his more subtle advances, he felt challenged, as if it were some sort of game, like the fox hunts he so adores! He enjoyed stalking me until he realized that all his methods were useless. He tried kindness, cajolery, then veiled threats, more insidious activity like rattling my doorknob in the middle of the night, and finally physical attempts to make me yield. It was humiliating for him to be bested by me in that situation."
"I don't suppose you're going to elaborate?"
She shrugged. "I was prepared. I had a knife, and I used it to lock him in my dressing room. And then I took the girls and escaped." The color ebbed in Adrienne's cheeks, but her voice grew stronger. "It sounds mad, but I think all of this—the time Frakes-Hogg has invested, the chances he's taken with his reputation, and the other risks—all of it is rooted in a compulsion to make me submit, to hear me beg for his mercy—"
Nathan reached for her trembling hand just as they were about to enter the castle. "Don't. I never meant to put you through any more suffering... but I do understand now." It came to him that she truly despised Walter Frakes-Hogg, and he was reminded of his own nagging hatred for Xavier Crowe. "What is it about evil men that drives them to try to bring down other people?"
Something in his tone gave her pause. "Jealousy, perhaps. And I do think that they are bullies. When they meet people who are strong and good, and who won't submit to their foul tactics, they're—driven, as you say, to break us. One hopes, in this case, that Walter Frakes-Hogg will die trying."
Just then Huntsford Harms came striding toward them through the gallery, his boot soles cracking on the marble floor. He wore his many-caped driving coat and beaver hat, carried his whip, and narrowed his eyes as he identified the two figures silhouetted against the sunset.
"I say, are you going out or coming in?"
Nathan closed the glass doors to the terrace behind them and Adrienne gestured toward her flowers. "I was just picking these for her ladyship while she enjoys a brief nap. She has been looking for you, my lord."
"Isn't she always? What sort of flowers are those? They look awfully like weeds, don't they?" He laughed. "Lovely weather! I've just come from Winchester myself. Looking at the cathedral! Jolly little town, don't you think so?"
"Indeed," Nathan said affably, glad for the chance to begin setting their plan in motion. "In fact, we were just planning an outing to Winches
ter on Thursday afternoon. Miss Beauvisage is going to take some of her ladyship's worn books to the bookbinder's to be repaired."
"You don't say!" Huntsford blinked and began fingering his whip. "But, as it happens, I am going in myself that day. Let me stand in for you, old chap! I should like nothing better than to act as guardian to the beauteous Miss Beauvisage!"
Chapter 8
"I received your message." Walter Frakes-Hogg was clearly annoyed. "I hope it is momentous news that moved you to alter the plans I laid out yesterday. I must add that I am very unhappy that you chose to pay a messenger to fetch me today. The fewer people who know about the link between us, the better."
"That footman is just a dimwitted boy. I highly doubt that he remembers your name!" Flushing, Huntsford Harms looked around the White Ostrich and drank half his glass of madeira. "I had no choice, and I'm certain that you'll agree when you hear my news."
"Do lower your voice!"
Huntsford had never seen him in such foul temper. Stuttering nervously, he spilled out the story of Adrienne's plan to come to the bookbinder on Thursday, with Essex, and his own intervention. "I insisted that I be allowed to accompany her! Could any plan be more brilliant?"
"And how are you going to throw her together with me? Or did you think she'd come willingly to my rooms?"
"I—I—" He swallowed hard. "Must you stare at me so venomously, old chap? I'm on your side, after all!" Harms lifted his glass again, all the while racking his brain. "I happened to see Miss Beauvisage as I was leaving to come here, and she mentioned a yearning to go walking around Wolvesey Castle, along the river, when she's finished at the bookbinder's. Said she hoped I wouldn't mind, but she'd like to go alone...."
Frakes-Hogg slowly lifted his head, arching his neck as if he were beset by sensations of intense pleasure. "How deliciously ironic! She won't need you to accompany her, my boy, because I shall be there...."
* * *
Adrienne was at her wit's end as she went into Lady Thomasina's dressing room. She and Nathan had yet to find a moment to rearrange their plans, and now Hortie was ill and Adrienne had been enlisted to act as her ladyship's abigail.
"Which headdress do you want?" she called.
"I just told you, Miss Beau—the green velvet toque, with the silk roses! Do me the courtesy of listening!"
Muttering under her breath, Adrienne searched the dark, cluttered little room. To get more light, she opened the door leading to the main corridor and caught a glimpse of Nathan Essex as he entered his chamber.
"Psst! Come here a moment!" Adrienne could scarcely contain her excitement, but Nathan looked unconcerned. She pulled him into the dressing room and began whispering furiously. "Now what are we going to do?"
"Are you referring to Huntsford Harms's intention to accompany you tomorrow?" he inquired.
"Of course I am! Speak quickly!"
"I hope you'll be calmer tomorrow, chit." He gave her a measuring look, then continued, "You'll have to let him drive you, allowing time to visit the bookbinder well before four o'clock."
"I told him this morning that I want to walk along the castle walls...."
"Did you? Good girl." His smile softened her mood. "Then it's fixed. I'll borrow a horse and come on my own, and I'll be there well in advance. There are some ruins of the old Roman wall along Riverside Walk. I'll be hiding in the lilac bushes nearby, watching—"
"Miss Beau?" Lady Thomasina's tone was querulous. "What's keeping you?"
"I'm coming, my lady!" She grabbed for the headdress. Limp silk roses hung precariously from the folds of velvet. "I really must go—"
"Don't worry," Nathan whispered. "Even if we aren't able to talk before tomorrow morning, there's nothing to worry about. I won't let any harm come to you; you have my word."
She tried to smile. "I do trust you, but perhaps I ought to carry some sort of weapon, just in case..."
* * *
By the time Adrienne emerged from the bookbinder's narrow shop on Parchment Street, Huntsford Harms was nearly mad with anxiety. The church bells had just chimed four, and his watch showed several minutes past the hour. Had Adrienne not said that she wanted to stroll Riverside Walk at four o'clock? Frakes-Hogg would have him drawn and quartered if this bit of muslin changed her mind!
Appearing quite unconcerned with the time, she approached the landaulet they'd driven from Harms Castle to Winchester with an eager stableboy hanging on the back as the tiger. It was hot, but Adrienne was calm and ravishing in a pale-blue walking dress topped by a short pretty spencer in a striking shade of canary yellow. Her bright curls spilled round her shoulders, and her face was framed by a chipstraw bonnet edged with a crisp frill. In spite of his state of near panic, Harms couldn't help salivating in Adrienne Beauvisage's company. She was exquisite.
"Why, Lord Harms, you're looking awfully pale," she teased as he handed her into the landaulet. "Or is that intentional?"
"The mark of a gentleman, n'est-ce pas? It's what separates me from plebeians like Nathan Essex." As he spoke, Harms consulted his watch once again. "I gather that you lost track of the time, my dear. You wanted to be walking along the river by now."
"Oh, yes." A pretty shade of pink washed her cheeks. "Perhaps you can drop me there, my lord. You won't mind if I walk alone?"
"No, no, not at all!" He couldn't suppress a burst of relieved laughter as the pair of chestnuts moved into the traffic on St. George's Street. "I understand completely!"
The bells of Winchester Cathedral were marking the quarter hour when Harms reined in the horses next to the massive walls of Wolvesey Castle. Built in the twelfth century as a bishop's palace, the castle had been destroyed by Cromwell, leaving only ruins and the great walls that fronted the River Itchen. Today, in the heat of the afternoon, the river rushed past a brick and tile mill a short distance to the north, and a cornflower-blue sky was reflected in the sparkling water.
"I'll let you out here, then," Huntsford Harms said. He jumped down and hurried around to offer Adrienne his hand.
"I heard that there was part of the old Roman wall nearby...." She looked around with a trace of worry in her green eyes. "Won't you show me?"
"Over there." He pointed. "I have to visit a sick friend. I'll return in a short while to get you." Then, before she could say good-bye, he flicked the reins and started away. Once around the corner, however, Harms came to another stop. He handed the chestnuts over to the tiger, slipped him a guinea, and charged him to guard the landaulet and pair with his life. Then he started up the nearest set of tower steps leading to the castle's wall walk. Once on top, Harms could watch everything that transpired between Walter Frakes-Hogg and the unsuspecting Adrienne Beauvisage.
It really was a shame that she had to be so lovely and charming—and so kind to his mother....
* * *
There was nothing in her manner to betray the racing of her heart. In fact, to be certain that Walter Frakes-Hogg did not mistake her, Adrienne loosened the strings of her bonnet and let it fall backward so that her hair and face were fully revealed.
Her step was brisk upon the cobbles, and she breathed deeply of the fresh sunny air. Now and then she paused to gaze out over the River Itchen, or south to the water meadows that led to the medieval almshouse known as St. Cross Hospital. A casual observer would conclude that Adrienne Beauvisage was enjoying herself. Smiling slightly, she realized that, perversely, it was true. The scent of danger was intoxicating.
Of course, it was easier to savor the moment's thrill knowing that Nathan was nearby, poised to rescue her from the villain....
Just then, as Adrienne was beginning to relax, a tall man came hurrying silently across the stone bridge, his head bent. He wore a voluminous gray silk cape and a tall hat. His hands were hidden. Adrienne felt paralyzed, and it came to her that Nathan's position near the Roman wall afforded him a view up and down Riverside Walk but none back over the bridge.
She turned away, walking rapidly, suddenly quite terrified. It was diffi
cult to breathe. Blood rushed to Adrienne's head with each thud of her heart.
Footsteps approached behind her. She wanted to scream, but no sound emerged.
"I am flattered that you recognized me, sweet," a low, silky voice declared at her shoulder. "Stop now."
And she did. He had her elbow; his fingers pinched like tongs. Waves of panic swept over her. What if Nathan couldn't see them? What if Walter killed her outright, perhaps plunging a dagger into her heart, before he could come? How silly she'd been to imagine that this was some sort of lark, or that she might've had the courage or dexterity to use the little paring knife fastened up her left sleeve. Frakes-Hogg saw to it that her right arm was immobilized.
"I have a score to settle with you, sweet. Let us walk into that tower, under the castle wall, where we may have privacy."
Adrienne heard herself beg, "Please, can't you forget about me? I'm far away from London now—"
"That's not enough, I fear, to make up for the indignities I suffered at your hands. You were very audacious when you believed I couldn't hurt you any longer, weren't you, sweet?"
His voice was so calm, so deadly, that her fear escalated. Perspiration dotted her brow. Why weren't there any passersby? Was no one going to help her?
They crossed the lane, walking away from the river.
"I have been so good to Ellie and Beth," Adrienne cried. All the feelings of sick terror she'd known in his house flooded back. The smell of his breath made her stomach lurch. "Please, they wouldn't want you to hurt me."
"If you cared so much for them, you would have done anything to stay in our home. I gave you many chances to remain with us. I treated you as a member of our family."
The castle wall filled Adrienne's vision, her arm burned where he gripped it, and then the arched entrance to the tower yawned before her, dark and forbidding. "What do you intend to do to me?" She tried to stop, but he pushed at her from behind.
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