“Oh, god! Please…say no more.”
“He drowned it in front of her,” Serena finished mercilessly.
Delilah’s eyes filled with tears. “No!”
“Needless to say, upon hearing her tale, I was more than happy to take the commission.”
“What did you do?” Delilah whispered.
Serena smiled at the delicious memory. “Poor Lord L! Weeks of planning but there was a grand masque ball that provided just the opportunity I needed. A small touch of seduction on my part to lead him upstairs and a few drops of a potent drug in his glass…”
“Yes?” Delilah asked, on the edge of her seat.
“He awoke to a nursemaid’s screams quickly followed by the lady of the house and several guests.”
“Did they find you abed together?”
Serena shook her head and laughed. “Oh, no! For a man such as that, a small indiscretion like infidelity would hardly matter! I conjured a sin he could never laugh away. Lord L was found in a most compromising position with his pants around his aristocratic ankles in the nursery of his host’s six year old son.”
“No!” Delilah’s astonishment and horror was total. “How could you? That poor innocent child!”
“I may be a heartless villain but I have my principles!” Serena’s mirth faded fast. “I would never harm a child! The boy was fast asleep and oblivious to all after a few drops of laudanum were put into his bedtime’s sweet milk. Lord L never touched that child!” She smoothed out her skirts. “I had the help of a few paid insiders to arrange all and ensure that the boy would be unscathed. They even tucked the small bottle of laudanum in Lord L’s waistcoat pocket for good measure. It was a thoughtful detail to add to the scene and so impossible for Lord L to explain.”
“What if the child had awoken?”
Serena shook her head. “Trust me. He awoke the next morning like a cherub in his own nursery and reportedly had a dream about dancing bears. You are concentrating on the wrong elements, Mrs. Osborne.” Serena reached over to take her hand. “Here, let’s try this again, Delilah! Picture it. Lord L ensnared in what could only be viewed as an act of attempted rape and buggery with a helpless child under his host’s roof and over the heads of every influential member of the nobility you can fit into a grand house at the height of the social season! It was a masterpiece!”
“Oh, my!” Delilah’s cheeks colored and her eyes sparkled. “It’s terrible but...so wonderful at the same time, isn’t it?”
Serena nodded. “There, now you have the way of it! I was in the ballroom in the midst of a waltz when the excitement unfolded so I can tell you with utter certainty that word of the crime had spread like wildfire before the music of my dance had ended.”
“So quickly!” Delilah exclaimed.
“It was ruin, total and complete.”
“And Lady L?”
“She would have petitioned for a divorce and achieved her freedom without a blink of protest.” Serena folded her hands together. “She would have, but that was the one wrinkle in the plan I had not foreseen.”
“She did not? How could she not divorce him after all of that?”
“There was no need.” Serena reached up to tuck a black curl back into place atop her head. “He hung himself the next day.”
“Oh,” Delilah was at a loss for words.
Serena shrugged her shoulders. “A tidier end than he deserved, Mrs. Osborne, though he did give his wife one final ironic comforting gift on his way to Hades.”
“And what gift was that?”
“He used her dog’s leash to end himself.” Serena sighed. “I like to think that some part of him knew the true source of his downfall.”
“What a tale!” Delilah pressed her fingers to her temples. “Was Lady L…happy? After it was over?”
“Deliriously.” Serena nodded and poured herself another cup of tea. “I sent her a basket of pug puppies wearing bright yellow ribbons after the funeral. We correspond regularly and her letters are a source of delight to me. She is a strong and vibrant member of our little society, Mrs. Osborne.”
Delilah’s expression dimmed.
“What troubles you?” Serena asked.
“I must be a wretched person, Lady Wellcott. For just then—I felt nothing but envy. Envy for a widow because she is free, so completely free, isn’t she?”
Serena reached across to take Delilah’s hand. “Every path is different. My plans do not set out to make you a widow, Mrs. Osborne. But I don’t think you will be disappointed in the justice we achieve. I promise.”
Delilah nodded. “I trust you completely.”
“How is your Dell?”
“Fearful but not for herself. She is convinced that my husband will take his revenge on me if he learns of my…efforts to move against him.”
“Then I should ask how you are faring, Mrs. Osborne.”
“Well enough. I feared my resolve would flag but it is the opposite. When I see that look in his eyes, knowing what I do now… I am ashamed that I was so blind to it before and to the pain he inflicted on so many.” Delilah’s eyes filled with tears. “If you cannot stop him, Lady Wellcott, I do not think I can face it.”
“There, there.” Serena touched her friend’s shoulder. “The Black Rose has you in hand and he will be stopped. It won’t be long and then we shall never speak of shame again. Never.”
Delilah nodded slowly, her composure recovering slowly. “Thank you, Lady Wellcott.”
“After.” Serena sat back and took a genteel sip from her teacup. “Thank me after.”
Chapter Twelve
That night, Serena carefully crept downstairs in stocking feet. Her confident assurances to Delilah had spurred her into action. It was just after midnight and the entire house was settled into a deep slumber, though she suspected Phillip would be awaiting her upstairs. The hem of her velvet wrap whispered over the carpets and floors behind her and she navigated with the tips of her fingers along the balustrade and wood paneling in the main hall. She approached the door to James study with caution, expecting to find it locked. But the heavy carved door gave way at a light touch to reveal Mr. Osborne’s masculine sanctuary.
A full moon provided ample light through the large ground floor windows behind the desk. She’d counted on it and not bothered fumbling with a candle and risking discovery. Serena moved into the room and took a seat behind the desk. The drawers were locked but she overcame them easily with the small toolkit she’d brought with her. The wealthy Lady Wellcott had learned from the best pickpockets and criminals in London’s darkest heart. She could cheat at cards, forge any handwriting like a master and shoot a coin set atop a post at twenty-five paces.
She began to look through what papers were there, seeking additional information on her quarry; any surprising avenues to his back, IOU’s or evidence of debt, signs of gambling, or financial stress. Serena studied everything, praying that one of his ledgers would give her another advantage. The simple plan that had started to coalesce in her mind was all well and good, but Serena preferred to have more than one weapon at her disposal.
After all, the worst men never fought fairly, so why should she?
But there was nothing.
She forced herself to slow down and make sure that there weren’t any hidden drawers before finally abandoning the search. She put everything back as she’d found it and relocked the drawers. Then put her leather bound toolkit into her robe’s pocket as she stood up and surveyed the desk again to make sure that nothing was out of place…not even the chair.
She retreated to close the door to the study and begin retracing her steps back up the stairs; a ghost in the hallways moving without sound.
She froze at the sight of another ghost standing outside her bedroom door, then smiled. “Phillip.”
“What are you doing out—“
She pressed her fingertips against his lips. “Shh! I was sleepwalking.”
“Sleepwalking?” he whispered.
“I drea
mt a handsome man was seeking me…”
He smiled and began to guide her through the doorway to her bedroom. “If you spoil this moment and start describing that man as a foreigner with dark hair, I am going to be very disappointed, Lady Wellcott.”
She giggled and shut the door firmly behind them, locking it. “How presumptuous of you, Sir Warrick! I can assure you he was a good deal taller than you are and—“
He kissed her to teach her a lesson about provoking his jealousy and she was grateful for his firm schooling. She opened up to him like a flower, eagerly tasting the balm of his attentions and the victory of distracting him from any questions about what she’d been doing downstairs.
And then she was the one distracted beyond questioning.
Chapter Thirteen
The next morning, Raven prepared for the day in the rituals of beauty that Pepper orchestrated. While her curls were arranged, Raven opened her jewelry box on the vanity table and selected an object with deliberate care. “Here.”
It was an ornate hair ornament and a favorite that had served her well in the past. The hair pin was nearly six inches in length and almost as thick as a child’s littlest finger. Topped with a flat jade carving of a bird, the shaft appeared to be embossed metal with vines and flowers in bas relief but the decorations were merely a grip atop a solid sheath where the true nature of the hair pin nested. Raven touched the carved jade head of the hair pin, pulling it up just an inch to note that the blade inside was still razor sharp. She didn’t know the origins of the miniature stiletto after buying it from a small antique shop in London years ago but wearing the strange little weapon gave her courage.
“I’ll wear it tonight and then at every occasion forward.” Serena held it up against her hair to admire the way her hair provided a dark foil for the jade’s magical green. It was a deliberate choice to wear it all the time, so that its appearance would not draw any attention. After a day or two, the addition to her fashion would be no change at all and instead a subtle and familiar detail for no one to note. “See that it is prepared first and then again every morning.”
“Truly?”
“You think the request so drastic? My instincts say otherwise. James Osborne is…” Serena’s gaze shifted to her own reflection and the calm glittering fury there. “James Osborne is about to fall.”
Pepper nodded. “Good enough. There’s not a maid below stairs that doesn’t wish him a gruesome end.”
Serena turned in her chair quickly. “Damn it. Not just Dell then.”
“Dell was only the latest from what I could glean. But the housemaids never work the upper floors alone and no scullery maid is sent to clean out the fireplaces or bring up coal without a footman at the ready to come to her aid.” Pepper shook out her mistress’s night rail. “It’s the best proof of it if the house’s procedures are set to protect the weakest in the house from their master’s attentions.”
“Delilah said she suspected that there was more and that she’d taken precautions.”
“Mrs. Osborne is beloved for her kindness among the staff. I believe they hid the worst from her out of love, my lady, not to protect their master.” Pepper sat on the bed. “If it were me, I’d not spend a night under this roof as a housemaid. The man makes my blood freeze with fear.”
“Pepper? Have you had an encounter with Mr. Osborne?”
Pepper shrugged her shoulders. “Just in passing when I was coming up yesterday with your shoes. Remember? The bow had come loose?”
Serena sighed. “Forget the bow. Tell me what happened, please dearest.”
“He was coming down the hallway and I stepped to the wall, eyes down, like a good servant should. Never seen to be seen is the rule!” Pepper’s cheeks gained a little pink. “He didn’t say a word but damned if he didn’t slow down and make a point of walking past me so close his legs brushed my skirts. I took a peek and that devil was looking at me like a plate of cakes!”
“My god!”
“I nearly fainted dead away, I will confess,” she said. “But he didn’t stop and not a word did he offer—and god knows, I was so grateful I never thought to complain about it later.”
“Pepper! You should have told me immediately!”
“What! It was only yesterday and I have told you as soon as I could.” Pepper cleared her throat, a prim expression stealing over her features. “It’s not as if my darling lady has been in her rooms much of late.”
A curse slipped past her lips and it was Serena’s turn to struggle with a blush. “I have lingered too long over…the question of Sir Warrick. Phillip distracted me from my original purpose here and I—I am embarrassed at the lapse. But I will amend the mistake. Delilah has been patient long enough and time is quickly running out.”
Pepper clapped her hands in anticipation. “I do enjoy it when you get that determined spark in your eyes.”
“Dell’s condition is bound to betray her soon.” Serena stood to begin to pace out of habit. “I need to drive him to ground.”
“Yes. But how?”
Serena took a deep breath. Risk was part of her life. Every venture of the Black Rose carried intrinsic threats to her fragile existence as Lady Serena Wellcott but she’d embraced the dangers. It was easy to gamble when you didn’t care about your own stake in the game but she cared very much about Pepper. From her years at the orphanage, Pepper had been the little sister and faithful mascot she had never forgotten.
The instant I had the means and my freedom, I retrieved her to be by my side.
Even the Black Rose wouldn’t be what it is without Pepper. She was the first one to note that without access to a man’s servants, I would always be blinded to his true nature.
“What are you stewing about over there?” Pepper asked.
“I’m stewing over a nightmare. For this time it’s not a well appointed lady that draws out the devil in Mr. Osborne and I fear I am not going to be able to change that fact.”
“It’s maid servants who stir him, that’s as certain as sunrise.” Pepper nodded. “And I’ve already caught his eye! I don’t see why you’re all twisted and torn over there. I can play my part.”
Serena crossed her arms, turning back to face Pepper. “This isn’t like securing a bit of gossip or acting the messenger below stairs. This is—far more than that and far more dangerous.”
“Dell’s a dear and there’s not a woman within a thousand miles that should suffer what she has. We’ve been sharing a room and I confess, I’ve grown terribly fond of her. If I can help you stop him, then why should I not be up for it? Besides,” Pepper added confidently, “you’ll not let any harm come to me.”
Serena shook her head. “I’d cut my own throat first but if we get this wrong…”
“When has the beautiful Lady Serena Wellcott ever gotten anything wrong?” Pepper laughed, then sobered quickly. “Mistress. Please. You said yourself time was short. I’m telling you as straight as a sparrow. Do your worst.”
Serena finally accepted it and returned to her seat at the vanity, drawing it close to Pepper to keep their conversation private and quiet. “Very well. Then here is the plan. We will keep it simple to try to keep you safe.”
“Simple is good.”
“Two days from now at breakfast, I will make a point of saying that I have left you alone upstairs in my bedroom with an armful of mending.”
“Why would I do the mending in your room and not carry it downstairs in the servant’s hall?” Pepper asked.
“Because the light is better in my room and I spoil you.”
“Ah!” Pepper smiled. “That rings true!”
“If we make it clear that he has the opportunity he longs for, then when he acts on that impulse, we will have him.” Serena reached out to cover one of Pepper’s hands with hers. “I will come quickly before harm is done but Pepper, there is the chance… What if I am wrong? What if he catches you when we are not prepared?”
“You will track him like a falcon, mistress. And when you catch
him trying to get at my buttons, we’ll make such a scene that his world will come down around his ears, right?” Pepper chimed in, faith shining in her eyes. “And Dell will be safe.”
Dell will be safe. Every maid in the house will be safe. An unborn child will be safe.
But what about you, Pepper?
Serena steadied herself with a long slow breath. “And you will be safe. I swear it.”
“So two more days then?”
“Yes. Two days gives me time to make sure that Mrs. Osborne is set, and that there is nothing I’ve omitted. When I go down to breakfast that morning I will set all in motion and then when he makes his move, we will end him.” Serena released her friend’s hand and stood, taking on the mantle of her title in the set of her shoulders. “Until then you keep well out of his reach. I have business of my own to finish. Make no move to pack but be ready to leave quickly since these are our last days in the house.”
“I won’t disappoint you.” Pepper also stood to smooth out her apron and reset her mob cap. “No fears, mistress. When the time comes, I’ll scream like a banshee and crack the plaster.”
Serena shuddered, unable to answer. She walked out of the room before she could change her mind or frighten Pepper with the terror that was nibbling at her nerves. No fears? Until it’s done, I will walk around with a basket full of black adders in my arms.
And prepare myself to carry the sound of your screams against my heart for the rest of my days.
Chapter Fourteen
That afternoon, Serena wore a crème colored silk with a jade overskirt to embody spring itself. Delilah had invited her on an open carriage ride to view a local flower fair and their maids were to accompany them. As they collected on Southgate Hall’s front steps, it was Serena’s first chance to meet Miss Dell.
Serena made a quick study of the girl, unsettled by her previous assumptions that this girl would be some sturdy country thing. Dell was a fine-boned creature, petite and slight and reminded Serena far too closely of her own beloved Pepper.
Lady Rises (The Black Rose Trilogy Book 2) Page 10