by Joan Wolf
“Thank you, Lady Standish.”
“Come along, Sally,” her mother said. “Alex and the duke will need some privacy.”
“All right,” Sally said reluctantly. Before she got off the bed, she and Sinclair exchanged a look that burned deep into her soul. Moving slowly, she left the room after her mother.
Twenty-Six
The Bow Street runners interviewed the man called Hazlett, who was a middle-level operator in the underworld of London criminals. After some persuasion, Hazlett admitted to having engaged the men who had tried to kidnap Diana, but claimed he didn’t know the man who had paid him for the job. It wasn’t anyone he had ever seen before.
Alex was stymied.
“There doesn’t seem to be anywhere else to look,” he said to Diana as they rode out one morning several days after the kidnapping episode. Her engagement hadn’t stopped her early rides with Alex. Rumford had shown little interest in getting up at six in the morning. He had offered to go with her at ten, but Diana preferred the early morning, when the park was quiet and she could feel as if she was back in the country again.
She also liked being alone with Alex now that all the stress of a romantic tie between them had been removed. After all, she told herself, he was her oldest friend. She didn’t want to cut him out of her life completely.
They galloped the horses around most of the Serpentine, as usual, and were walking back toward the gate, letting the horses catch their breath, when Diana noticed a dirt mark on Monty’s neck that had been partially hidden by his mane. Frowning, she leaned forward to rub it out, promising herself that she would have words with the groom who took care of him when she returned to the stable.
She had just reached forward, with her head alongside Monty’s neck, when a whizzing sound passed just behind her. Then there was a thump. Monty jumped sideways and, because she was already unbalanced, Diana fell off.
Before she realized what was happening, Alex was beside her, pulling her and the horses into the cover of the thin line of trees that lay between the path and the Serpentine.
“My God,” Diana said, white-faced. “What was that?”
“Someone just shot an arrow at us,” Alex said incredulously. “Are you all right?”
“I think so.” She rubbed her shoulder where she’d landed.
About three feet from where they were concealed, an arrow protruded from one of the trees that lined the path. Diana stared at it.
“It was meant for me, wasn’t it?” she said in shock. “If I hadn’t leaned forward to brush that dirt away from Monty’s neck, it would be buried in my head.”
“I’m afraid so,” Alex said very grimly.
Terror flooded Diana’s heart. She could hardly breathe. “But why? Why would anyone want to kill me, Alex? Who could possibly benefit from my death?”
“I don’t know, Dee,” he said in the same grim voice as before.
He was standing in front of her, shielding her with his body from the view of any potential assassin.
“Do you think he’s still out there?” she asked fearfully. Her heart was beating so hard it felt as if her chest was vibrating.
“He could be.” Alex turned toward the path, cupped his mouth with his hands and called loudly, “Whoever you are, if you will come forward and tell me who it was that hired you, I won’t press charges. In fact, I’ll give you the reward money that I posted. Think about it. It will be well worth your while to give yourself up. There can’t be many men in London whose weapon of choice is an arrow. We’ll find you, and then you’ll hang.”
Silence.
“Perhaps he’s gone,” Diana said in a trembling voice.
Alex called again, “It’s your choice—freedom with a reward or being hunted down and thrown into prison.”
Again, only silence was the reply.
“It’s probably the same as with the kidnapping,” Diana said, struggling to think rationally. “These hired men don’t know who is behind the attempts. They are contacted by a go-between.”
Alex turned back to face her. His blue eyes were glittering in a way she had never seen before. “I’m afraid you’re right.”
Diana began to shiver all over. “Oh God, Alex. Someone wants me dead! How can that be?”
He reached out and pulled her into his arms. She pressed against him, soaking in his warmth, his strength, taking comfort from the feeling of his hard body against hers. He held her tightly and eventually her shivering slowed. She took a deep uneven breath and realized that she wanted to stay right where she was and never move.
The treacherous thought galvanized her into action and she pulled away. He looked down into her face and his forehead was lined with worry.
“This is damn peculiar, Dee,” he said. “The kidnapping we could rationalize as a possible play for a ransom, but this makes no sense at all. I’d say it was the random act of some demented idiot if it wasn’t for the kidnapping attempt. Or perhaps that wasn’t for a ransom, after all. Perhaps the kidnappers were supposed to kill you.”
She shuddered. Her chest felt tight and her stomach was churning. Her eyes scanned his face. “Oh Alex, I am so scared. I can’t understand this at all! I have done nothing to make someone hate me like this!”
“It seems insane,” he agreed, his eyes searching the trees opposite the bridal path. “but there has to be a motive somewhere. These can’t be unconnected acts. They were obviously planned.”
The horses had been standing quietly and now Monty nudged Diana with his nose. She caressed his forehead below the brow band of the bridle. She looked around nervously. “Do you think it’s safe for us to leave?”
“I think we should walk the horses and keep them between us and the shooter, just in case he’s still there.”
Diana summoned all her courage. “All right.”
It took them twenty minutes to reach the busy street. Then they both swung into their saddles and finished the ride home.
At eleven o’clock in the morning, the Earl of Rumford was admitted to Standish House. He found Diana waiting for him in the upstairs drawing room.
“What happened?” he demanded as soon as he saw her. “Your note said someone shot at you?”
“Oh, Edward!” She ran toward him and he opened his arms. “Someone shot an arrow at me while I was riding with Alex this morning. Right in the park! If I hadn’t just bent forward to rub a spot of dirt off Monty’s neck, I would be dead.”
“Dear God,” the earl said. He held her close. “What is going on here? Why are you all of a sudden a target for violence?”
She shook her head, her copper curls brushing against his cheek. “I have no idea! All I can think of is it’s some maniac. There simply isn’t any rational explanation.”
They went to sit on the sofa, Diana cuddling against the earl. He had an arm around her shoulders. “You have no idea who might be behind this?”
“None.”
“There has to be a reason. Twice an attempt has been made on your person. There has to be a reason, no matter how far-fetched.”
“That is what Alex says as well. But we can’t think of anything.” Her voice was deeply bewildered. “I haven’t any enemies, Edward. How could I? I’m not an important person. I’m just an ordinary girl.”
“You’re not ordinary, my dear,” he said as he rested his lips on her hair. “Could it be a spurned suitor, who is so madly in love with you that he’d rather see you dead than married to someone else?”
She shook her head. “No one else proposed to me.” She managed a weak chuckle. “You’re the only one who cared enough to do that. I’m quite sure this was not the work of a disappointed suitor.”
“Then who can it be?”
“I don’t know!”
There was the sound of a step on the uncarpeted floor near the door and Alex appeared. Diana hastily pulled away from Rumford and passed her hand over her hair to smooth it down.
Alex wasn’t looking at her, however, he was looking at Rumford. “Dee has told you about wha
t happened this morning?” he asked.
“Yes, and it is very worrying.”
“There’s got to be a reason behind these attempts, we just haven’t found it yet. In the meanwhile, I think it would be a good idea if you took Dee to Aston Castle. She should be safe there. I’ll stay here in London and see if I can discover a motive for what has been happening.”
“An excellent idea,” Rumford said heartily. “Diana, my dear, do you think you and your mother could be ready to leave this afternoon? We want to get away as quickly and as privately as we can.”
At that moment, Mrs. Sherwood and Sir Gilbert Merton came into the room. “I have told Sir Gilbert about what happened in the park this morning, Diana,” her mother said, “and he has a suggestion.”
“Why don’t you come on a visit to Hatton Manor, my home in Sussex?” Sir Gilbert said to Diana. “I think it is vital for you to get out of London quickly.”
“We have already decided that my fiancée should come to Aston Castle with me,” Rumford said. “But thank you for your offer, Sir Gilbert.”
“I think it would be wiser if she came to Hatton Manor,” Sir Gilbert said bluntly. “If you and Miss Sherwood disappear together, everyone will guess that you have gone to Aston. I realize that it would be much more difficult to get at her once she goes to Aston, but if she goes to Hatton no one will know where she is. She will be much safer. Of course, you are invited, as well, Lord Rumford.”
Diana automatically looked at Alex. “What do you think?”
He said, “I like the idea.” He turned to the earl. “You will be able to keep her safer at Merton’s place than you will at yours. In the meanwhile, I will remain in London and move heaven and earth to find out who is behind these attacks.”
Mrs. Sherwood said, “I think it is very kind of Sir Gilbert to offer his assistance in this way, darling. You can visit Aston Castle once this evil man has been caught.”
The earl did not look happy, but he had to concede the practicality of the suggestion. “Thank you, Merton,” he said. “This is very good of you.”
Alex said, “Dee and her mother should go in your carriage, Rumford. Anyone watching the house will assume you are taking her to Aston. When you don’t show up there, it will be too late to find out where she has in fact gone.”
“An excellent idea, Alex,” Mrs. Sherwood said.
“I’ll leave for Merton immediately, to make sure all is ready to receive you,” Sir Gilbert said.
“Will Charlotte be going with you?” Diana asked.
“I don’t think so. I think it will be better if I just tell her and her aunt that I am tired of London and need some time at home. Since that is the truth, they will have no reason to question me.”
They spoke for a few more minutes, then the group split up and Diana went upstairs to pack. Half an hour later Sally returned from a shopping expedition with her mother and came into Diana’s room. Diana told her about going to Hatton Manor.
Sally was as horrified and bewildered as everyone else by these attacks on Diana. “I think it’s a good idea for you to get away,” she said. “But who could be doing this, Diana?”
Diana sat on the side of her bed. She was whiter than she usually was. “I can’t even begin to imagine,” she said. “Oh Sally, I was so happy. I am going to marry a wonderful man, everything seemed to be going so well, and now this….”
She began to cry.
Sally went to sit beside her and put a comforting arm around her shoulders. “It just seems unbelievable that this is happening,” she said worriedly. “But you are doing the right thing. Get away to the country and leave it to Alex to do some investigating. Sinclair can help him.”
Diana fought to compose herself. After a few minutes she managed to strike a lighter note. “I wanted to be here with you, to help you get through all the fuss that your engagement has created. Mine was nothing compared to yours! The untouchable Duke of Sinclair is actually getting married!”
Sally laughed. “Poor Robert. He tells me that the members of his club are furious that they never had an opportunity to make a book. He surprised everybody.”
“Well, if an earl and a duke can’t find out what is going on with me, then I suppose no one can,” Diana said.
“They’ll find out, don’t you worry,” Sally said. “Alex has offered an enormous reward, so you can be certain that Bow Street is highly motivated to catch the culprit.”
Diana looked at Sally with wide, frightened eyes. “But what if they don’t catch him, Sally? What if I have to spend the rest of my life in fear?”
“Don’t think that way!” Sally squeezed her shoulders. “Where is the old fearless Diana?”
“I can throw my heart over any fence,” Diana said, “but this situation is different. I’m angry and I’m scared all at the same time.”
“You’ll be safe at Hatton Manor.”
Diana sniffed. “I hope so.” She swallowed, trying to get rid of the lump of fear that was in her throat. “It was extremely nice of Sir Gilbert to invite me.”
“Yes, it was.” Sally slid off the bed and went over to the window. She looked out for a moment, then she turned back to Diana and said a little hesitantly, “Do you think there might be something going on between your mother and Sir Gilbert?”
Diana stared at her incredulously. “Do you mean something…romantic?”
“Yes.”
“Good heavens,” Diana said. Her brown eyes were wide. “I never thought about such a thing.”
“As you said, it was extremely nice of him to offer to shelter you at his home. Someone who didn’t feel personally involved with the family would hardly have done that.”
Diana frowned, not at all sure she liked the idea Sally was proposing.
“I like him,” Sally said. “He seems very unpretentious, very solid. It would be wonderful for Cousin Louisa to have her own home and a husband who loves her—particularly now that you are getting married yourself.”
“But she would live at Aston Castle with me!” Diana cried. “Rumford has said that she would be very welcome.”
Sally left the window and returned to Diana’s side. “I know, but it’s not the same as having your own home, Diana.”
Diana’s frown deepened. “She walks Freddie every day. I have been so busy, but Mama has not missed a single day of walking Freddie. Three o’clock in the afternoon, out she goes with Freddie. You could set your watch by her.”
“And Sir Gilbert walks his dog, as well?”
“Whenever I’ve gone, he’s been there.”
“At three o’clock?”
“At three o’clock.”
Sally said humorously, “Wouldn’t it be funny if you and I and your mother all found husbands this Season?”
Diana didn’t return her smile. “I’m not sure I like the idea.”
“If it is the case, you should be happy for her,” Sally said kindly but firmly. “Life has not been easy for Cousin Louisa. If a kind, well-off baronet loves her and wants to marry her, then be happy for her, Diana. Don’t make her feel guilty about leaving you.”
Diana had been staring down at her lap. Now she lifted her head and looked somberly at Sally. She drew in a deep, quivering breath. “You’re right. You’re always right.” A faint smile flickered across her face. “How is it that you’re not unbearable?”
Sally bent and kissed Diana on the cheek. “Your mother will always love you, even if she does get married.”
Diana sighed a little mournfully. “I know. I suppose that if Mama wants to marry Sir Gilbert, I will give them my blessing. He does seem to be a nice sort of man.” She sighed again, even more mournfully. “But I will miss her.”
“I’ll miss my mother, too, that’s only natural. But that’s what marriage is, Diana, giving up one’s mother and father and cleaving to one’s husband.”
Diana laughed. “We just have to find a husband for your mother and the Season will have been an outstanding success.”
“We hav
e to find a wife for Alex before we can proclaim total success,” Sally said. “I was really worried about him for a while, but he’s looking better lately.”
All the humor fled from Diana’s face. “Alex doesn’t need a wife to heal what’s wrong with him,” she said. “He needs to do that himself. And he won’t do it by drinking.”
Sally sat beside Diana and said softly, “He saw so much death in the war, Diana. I think he carries that around inside him. He probably always will.”
Diana bent her head and once more stared at her hands in her lap. “Yes,” she whispered. Then, a little more strongly, “But that’s what he wanted, Sally. He wanted to go to war.”
“He was just a boy. He saw the drums and the uniforms and the horses charging gallantly into battle. He had no idea of what war really is.”
There was a long silence. Diana had always known that war was about death. But perhaps Sally was right. Perhaps Alex hadn’t really understood. She had always thought of him as older and wiser than she was. But perhaps he hadn’t been.
Sally sighed. “I think you’re right, I think he has a lot of healing to do. But I also think the right woman could help him.”
Diana’s mind shied away from the thought of Alex with the “right woman.” It was just something she couldn’t picture. She was relieved when Sally changed the subject by saying, “Ring for your maid and I’ll help you pick out what clothes you want to take to Hatton Manor.”
Twenty-Seven
Hatton Manor sat on top of the South Downs in Sussex with the green turf coming right up to its walls and a view that took in the sea in the far distance. The house itself was a silvery pink brick with white wooden trim and a central pediment. Indoors, Hatton Manor was a peaceful harmony of gently faded ivory, crimson, pink and blue, all lightly dusted with gold. It was much smaller than Standish Court, but Louisa Sherwood liked it better. It felt like a home.
“I can see why you hated to leave here to go to London,” she said to Sir Gilbert.
He looked pleased. “It’s not very grand, but it suits me.”
“It’s better than grand,” she said. “It’s soft and pretty and so very welcoming.”