“I came to consult with you,” he said carefully.
“Good, because your brothers-in-law are headed here for that very purpose.” He bent and picked up the drawing, carrying it carefully to the table by the window and laying it flat. “I keep everything she does,” he remarked. “I shall soon have a special library for them. However, I need to find someone to care for her, a governess. I also need a companion for Helena because the one we have is making sheep’s eyes at me.”
He glanced out the window. “Here they are.” Downstairs, the front door banged.
Time to confess at least one thing. “I’m not used to a family like this, but I’d like to belong,” Dominic said.
“That depends on your decisions. We are not unified on all fronts, but on one thing, we are determined. We will not see the country plunged back into pointless civil war.”
“Then we agree.”
He had no time to say more before the door opened to admit Val and Darius. They carried the apologies of their older brother. Marcus was in the country, although what was keeping him was a little mysterious.
“He gives one excuse and then another,” Darius said with a shrug. “We sent a message back to say he must stay where he is. Our father has a meeting with some committee or other, but I think it might be preferable if he doesn’t know everything.”
“Not until we’ve done it,” Val agreed.
“Tea?” Julius suggested.
“Brandy,” Val said firmly. “I have to escort Charlotte to some damn fool Venetian breakfast later. I doubt there’ll be much other than dancing and fruit cup.”
“Why not marry her and have done?” Darius demanded. “Just hold your nose and jump in. Look at Dominic here, courted and married all inside one season.”
On the point of asking Darius if he had anyone in mind, Dominic clamped his jaw shut. Darius preferred his own sex, but very few people knew, and he wasn’t even sure he was supposed to know. It could prove a considerable weakness as far as their enemies were concerned, but he’d picked the knowledge up from a few awkward comments Claudia had made.
Dominic accepted the brandy with more than usual enthusiasm for a variety of reasons. After his meeting with the general and his change of heart, he needed a little fortification. Being Julius’s brandy, it was very good indeed.
They settled themselves on the chairs, which despite being spindly in appearance proved sturdier than he’d thought. Certainly more comfortable than the set in his own drawing room.
Julius motioned to him. “I take it this is more than a social call? You were saying as much when the twins arrived.” He put his half-consumed glass down on the table by his side.
“I came straight here from Horse Guards,” Dominic said. When his mind went back to that interview, the anger he’d tried to quell on the walk over here surged anew. “I talked to my old commander. After some pressure, General Court admitted that he had someone in custody who might have used it. What he didn’t say made many things clear to me.”
Julius held up a hand, the lace at his cuffs falling back to reveal a sinewy wrist. “You have decided not to obey all his requests, then? To report back about us, the Emperors?”
Dominic didn’t ask how he knew. If General Court thought he had the only spies in London, he was either naïve or incurious. “Since my marriage, my loyalties have changed. My first is to my wife. My second is to my country.”
“I have always considered that the right order,” Julius said calmly, although what Dominic had said was barely short of sedition.
Dominic continued, “The general knew about the attack. I believe he allowed it to happen. Otherwise, how could they have arrested the perpetrator so quickly and discreetly? They were following him, and they merely took him once he’d done the deed.”
“They may have sponsored him,” Julius said quietly.
Dominic considered the possibility, vaguely shocked that he wasn’t more surprised. “It’s possible. The man certainly used a military weapon. But I consider my service to the Crown, formal or informal, at an end. They put my wife at risk of her life. I will not forgive them for that. With that in mind, I have to decide what to do about my unexpected legacy. I was on the point of informing the general what I had discovered about my birth. No longer. If they discover it, it won’t be from me. I’m a legitimate son of the Old Pretender.” Saying it aloud sent cold shivers down his spine. “I had considered claiming my birthright and then officially renouncing it.”
Val swore, Darius stared at him goggle-eyed, and Julius nodded, his attention concentrated on Dominic’s face.
“If I did that, it might sort out the Stuart claim once and for all.”
“I would not take that course,” Julius said. “The factions around the Stuarts are greedy and wily.”
Dominic smiled dryly. “I would not allow them to change my mind.”
“In my experience, they would take action and ask you later. You might find yourself king without quite knowing how they achieved it.”
Val laughed harshly. “And my sister would be queen.”
“She’d make a wonderful queen,” Dominic said, with all the fervency he was capable of. “However, I thought hard about the issue on the way over here, and I believe you might be right about the scheming. My coming out into the open would achieve nothing. Besides, it would draw attention to any siblings I might have, and they might not wish it. I’ve come to a decision. After I’ve settled the final thing.”
“Which is?”
“The threat to my wife, or course. Nobody touches her or causes her a moment’s concern. I will not accept anyone trying to hurt her any longer. Now I’ve spoken with the General, I think I know who is responsible.”
Julius leaned forward. “Do tell.”
“In due course.” He recited the names on the paper. “Are the two women my sisters?”
Julius pinched the bridge of his nose. “They are. I need to contact their husbands. We were hoping to keep the information quiet, but if the government knows, there’s a strong possibility others do, too.” He looked up. “There will be more. So far you have one half-sister and a full-blood sister. There are probably more sons. We need to find them.”
“I pray there are, because that means I would not be the oldest son.” A swell of relief swept through him at the thought. “There is no doubt about this marriage?”
Julius shook his head. “I fear not. It happened. When she gave the children away, Maria sent a copy of the marriage certificate and the birth certificate with each one. Although it isn’t the original, the evidence exists. From the research I’ve accomplished, I think the original is in the Vatican. In fact, it would be as well if it is, because it gives the Pope something to hold against the Stuarts.”
“I thought they were of a mind?”
Julius shrugged and leaned back once more. “Sometimes. Maria was shrewd.”
“She had to be.” Darius turned the nearly empty cut-glass tumbler around in his hands so it caught the light. To all intents and purposes, he was studying it closely. “Surrounded by schemers, she had to make plans of her own to survive.”
“She’ll have signed affidavits and so on,” Julius said briskly. “I don’t think she’d have kept all of them in her house, although the general feeling is that most of the documents were destroyed when she died. I don’t believe that’s true. I have put a lot of effort into investigating precisely what happened that night, although I may have to pay a visit to Rome before I’m done.”
“Incognito?” Val asked.
“Perhaps.” He shrugged. “Not today. Now we have to put our minds to solving this problem and ensuring Claudia is safe.”
“It’s my problem and my operation,” Dominic said. “I will put Claudia’s safety in nobody else’s hands. Believe me, I trust you, especially after my interview this morning, but she is my wife.” He cleared his throat. “I love her.” He wouldn’t meet their gaze. “I need a few things put in place, and then I will act.”
“How soon?�
� Julius asked.
“As soon as possible.”
Val laughed heartily and rose from his chair to clap him on the back. “Welcome to the family.”
A shout went up from the hall, and the front door opened. Swiftly, Julius got to his feet and raced to the window. “We have to turn to the practical, gentlemen.”
Feet thundered up the stairs. A knock sounded loudly on the door to the room and a footman entered precipitately. “Please, sir, my lord, this just arrived. It was pushed under the door, and when we opened it, there was nobody in sight. Well, not anybody who looked like they’d just shoved something under the door.”
Julius sprang to his feet and seized the note, scanning it as he crossed the room. Silently he handed it to Dominic.
We have your wife. You will do as we say or she will die. Bring all the documents you and your friends have to the house in Hart Street tomorrow night at seven.
It wasn’t signed.
Dominic stared at the words numbly, as if by staring he could change them.
The footman still waited, but Julius sent him away with an impatient gesture.
Shoving his hands in his breeches’ pockets, Julius took a turn around the room. He let out such a string of curses that Dominic’s were almost lost in the exchange.
Val read the note and bit his lip, and Darius growled, glancing at his brother.
“Who?” he asked.
“The Young Pretender, or his agents,” Dominic said.
“Or the Dankworths,” Julius added.
After his first shock, Dominic found himself the calmest person in the room. His mind worked as it always had in a crisis—coolly, assessing. “Then my plan will still work. I will just bring it forward. The first thing is to verify the truth of what’s in that note. I would beg the favor of using one of your servants for that purpose.”
Because if he went home and discovered it was true, he might well kill somebody.
Coolly, crisply, he outlined what he wanted.
Chapter 19
Once the information in the note was confirmed, Dominic went into action. Pushing his emotions to the back of his mind in the way he’d learned long ago, he laid his plans, and now everything was in place.
Dominic stood in a doorway a few yards down from the house in Hart Street. Something hard and circular pressed against his temple. He went still.
Right on time, Val walked up the street.
“Don’t let him go in,” a voice said softly next to his ear. “Call him back. It doesn’t matter if someone sees you. There’s nobody there.”
The something hard was the barrel of a pistol. “Why should I believe you?” He used a voice so faint it was hardly there.
“Because I’ve been watching this house for weeks.”
“So have I.”
“I know,” Lord Alconbury said. “I saw you.”
The pressure disappeared. Dominic stepped back so he could see Alconbury and the house.
Val knocked.
“There is one person in the house,” Alconbury said. “The others have gone.”
“How is that possible?”
A shame this street was one of the few in London that was never deserted. People strolled along, some arm in arm, others in raucous groups. At least the madness of late night celebrations had not started yet. However, Dominic badly wanted to hit Alconbury. He’d wanted to hit someone since that note arrived.
“These houses have a single attic space. That is, the attic space is not divided off. The inhabitants walked through to the end of the street and left by the house there. I became suspicious when I saw someone very like the madam in a coffee shop this morning. I investigated.”
“How did you do that?”
“Come now, you know I am welcome in the place. My father goes there regularly, and since I like to know what he’s up to, I made some investigations.” He sighed. “The house is mined.”
Shock coursed through Dominic.
He could not take the risk that Alconbury was telling the truth, not even if Claudia was in the house. If she was, she was dead if the house was mined. They had planned to get one person in the house to get the lay of the land and then storm it. No subtleties necessary.
He stepped out and waved.
Julius and Darius raced from their hiding places to join him. Society wouldn’t recognize Julius for the man in the dark, simple clothes and plain wig. Max strolled over from his place nearer to Dominic’s station.
Swiftly, Dominic told them what Alconbury had said. Val joined them. Dominic’s plan was in shreds, but he couldn’t take the risk.
Julius confronted Alconbury, the son of his worst enemy. They stood, nose to nose, dark and fair, glaring at each other.
“You believe this man?” Julius said quietly.
“I can’t risk it. If Val stepped in that house and Claudia was there, they’d set off the mines and kill her. If we storm it, they’ll have us all. If Alconbury is lying, we have him.”
Alconbury sneered. “You believe I’d offer myself up? No. I’d prefer that my father was not responsible for exploding half of one of London’s best known streets and taking half the inhabitants with it. I can’t see that is in anyone’s interests.” He shook his head. “I have a concern for my family, but I will not let this happen. A man is waiting by the back door,” Alconbury said. “As soon as anyone enters by the front door—it’s unlocked, by the way—he will set the mines and run.”
Dominic glanced at Darius who nodded and raced off.
The men stood in a row, crowding Alconbury so he could not get away. They did not speak. The seconds ticked off, slowly, but Darius returned in ten minutes accompanied by Max, who was stationed at the end of the street. He grimaced. “He’s right,” he said, jerking his head at Alconbury. “Now what?”
“This isn’t the only house.” Cold fury coursing through him, Dominic shoved Julius aside and confronted Alconbury. “Where is she?”
“Where is who?” Alconbury seemed genuinely perplexed, frowning at him.
“My wife.”
He was close enough to see the genuine shock in the earl’s face. “Your wife?”
“Your father abducted her.”
“I wondered at the increased activity.” Alconbury groaned and sighed heavily. “I had no idea.”
“You expect us to believe that?” Julius demanded. His jaw clenched and his eyes flashed anger in the dim light cast from the houses nearby and the soft light of early evening. Dusk had fallen, but this street was narrow and never admitted much light even on the brightest day.
“Believe what you like. If their trap fails, your wife’s life is in more danger.”
“You will tell us,” Dominic growled. He gripped the folds of Alconbury’s neckcloth and twisted, tightening the strip of linen. “There’s your choice. Tell us where she is or die here, where you stand.”
“No choice,” Alconbury said, although his voice had tightened considerably. “I can’t tell you if you strangle me.”
Dominic loosened the neckcloth enough to allow him to talk.
Alconbury took a couple of deep breaths. “She’s not here. I have men watching another house, deeper into the City, in Spitalfields. Yesterday a group of women went in. My man counted six going in but only five came out. They were close enough to carry someone.” He growled. “Do you think I want to see this? I will not be accounted responsible. That house is unknown to my father or me. We are not involved in a scheme so crass. Yes, crass.” He shot a withering glare at Julius. “He understands.”
Julius nodded, but said nothing, only jerked his head for Alconbury to continue. “We heard from our sources that the government intends to bring the Prince to trial this time. Or rather, Bute does.”
At the mention of the chief advisor to the Princess of Wales, rumored in some quarters to be her lover, Julius’s head went back. “Unfortunately that makes sense.” He spoke softly, venom infusing every syllable. It was clear how much he hated working with Alconbury or accepting t
hat anything he said was true.
He had to. Now, Alconbury was their only hope. “Take us to the house,” Dominic said.
They set off, ostensibly a group of men on the town, as so many others around them were. Although early, the great piazza of Covent Garden was already alive with people.
Dominic and Val brought up the rear. Darius and Julius walked either side of Alconbury, who carried on talking and Max followed.
“Tonight, at least we want the same things,” Alconbury said. “I want to stop any bloodshed and get the Prince out of the country. I cannot see any purpose in him staying and getting himself taken.”
The kidnappers wanted the papers. It had taken an hour to make copies. Since there were copies in the first place, they didn’t have to work too hard. Then they’d frayed and roughened the edges, and stained them. Enough to make them look twenty or more years old.
Dominic had brought one original. His birth certificate, the one his parents had given to him. He had plans for it. He hadn’t told anyone what he would do, because most likely they would not approve. Particularly Julius.
“What do you want?”
“To get the Prince out of the country. To prevent any bloodshed. My father wishes that, too. He is not yet ready.” Alconbury snapped out the words, as if they hurt him.
“I want my wife back.” That was the objective he would not give in.
Alconbury shot him a glance. “I will help you with that.”
“I have a weapon trained on you,” Val murmured from behind. “Your own, as it happens. One false move and I won’t hesitate to shoot.”
Alconbury gave a mock wince. “Ouch.”
“I on the other hand,” Dominic said smoothly, “am wondering whether to take off your right hand or gouge out your eyes. Killing you would lead to an arrest and trial. However, if you are set upon by footpads and injured, that is the nature of London, is it not? I could lead you into St. Giles rookery and dare you to find your way out.”
“Now that,” Alconbury said, “Is a real threat.”
They had crossed the square and reached the streets beyond. On one side, the Hart Street side, the streets eventually gave way to the shopping areas. Then the residences of the well to do and the rich. On this side, it led to the legal district, and then the City, the warren of streets that contained much of the wealth that had built London. Max’s kingdom. He was married to a daughter of one of the wealthiest men, and he had built his fortune on investments and insurance after his father’s depredations. He knew this area better than the others. Therefore, after Alconbury had given the address, he led the way.
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