Spies and Secrets 02 - Daring the Duke

by Anne Mallory

  But it allowed her time to still her racing heart and regain her bearings.

  The prison interior was much the same as she remembered. A dark, dank place with neither light nor heat. A familiar face walked past and as a matter of course, she ducked her head. She doubted she would be recognized. She barely resembled the girl who had been imprisoned here.

  The thought didn’t stop her knees from knocking.

  From a distance, cries of pain were audible. Everything around her was growing dim. For once her fear was too strong for chastisement. She felt an instinctive urge to flee. She looked up into Stephen’s face and saw his lips move. He gently shook her, and the rest of him became brighter.

  “Diana, we are going to be admitted. We have very little time, however.

  Are you ready?”

  Something in his voice caused her to snap back, both mentally and physically. She straightened. Faye was somewhere below, waiting for her.

  “Yes, Your Grace. I am ready.”

  He nodded, and the man to whom Stephen had been talking pocketed some coins. Stephen must have bribed him. In doing so, he too was breaking the law. Why was he doing this for her?

  They walked down the hall, and she hurried to keep up. Time was short, that she understood. Stephen had mentioned that he hoped to arrive during the guards’ shift change, hence their early arrival.

  They walked for what felt like forever down into the belly of the cold beast. She shut out the sights and smells and focused on Stephen’s back.

  People wailed and called out, but she ignored their cries. She couldn’t afford to let them in and break the fragile grip she had on her panic. The panic was throbbing beneath a layer so thin she felt every step she took would shatter it.

  “Up ahead is where ye will find the unforgivables. Ye have ten minutes before the change of guards.” The henchman shuffled off. As soon as he was out of sight Stephen touched her hand.

  “Quickly, Audrey. Which way?”

  She allowed her senses to open. The shock reeled her back and he gripped her hand.

  “Audrey, I can’t lose you now. Remember our role here. You aren’t nervous, remember?”

  She looked into his eyes and nodded. “l remember.”

  Holding tightly to her lifeline, she looked around. Walls, bars, hands gripping bars. That was familiar. Wailing, dirt and slop buckets, urine and body odor. That was familiar too.

  “I need another minute.”

  He nodded, but she noticed the tension etched in the corners of his eyes.

  She looked at the floor and the walls. The pitched dirt and grime. The stones inset in …

  “Down that corridor,” she said.

  She walked to the right, and Stephen maintained her pace. She didn’t release his hand. Direction started to return, and she made a few more turns before coming to a very familiar area.

  She ran to the bars of a cell, nearly dragging Stephen in her frenzy.

  “Faye! Where are you?”

  She poked her head between two bars, straining to see. Then between two more, not finding a familiar face in the grime.

  “Faye?”

  “She’s not here.”

  Audrey looked toward the voice. A bedraggled man with long, matted hair was shackled in the corner. Tension and panic threatened to choke her. “Where is she?” Audrey croaked.

  “She’s been gone for several days now. Men came and took her away.

  She was drugged something fierce.”

  Yes, she would have had to be for anyone to transport her feisty sister without losing a limb in the process.

  “Do you know where they took her?”

  The man shrugged. The other prisoners were barely paying them any attention. “No. Do you got any food?”

  She started to shake her head before she remembered her other scone.

  Fishing it from her pocket, she tossed it to the man in the corner. The other prisoners perked up and looked at the small bit of food like ravenous beasts. Tears pricked at her eyes. She remembered that feeling very well.

  Stephen tugged her hand. “We need to go.”

  “What if she is in another part of the prison?”

  He squeezed her hand. “Do you believe that?”

  She looked at her feet. “No. She’s gone.”

  “I’m sorry, Audrey.” He said it softly. She nodded, and he tugged her toward the exit.

  Leaving Newgate proved faster, but it was as much a nerve-wracking experience for her as entering. Faye was gone. Relief and terror vied for prominence. At least Faye had been released and hadn’t spent the last few days in those evil cells. But if Faye had been housed there, they could have freed her.

  Travers could have her stashed anywhere. And with anyone. She could be in a much worse situation for all Audrey knew.

  Travers had lied. That wasn’t a shock in and of itself, but if he had lied about Newgate, it was a possibility that Faye wasn’t even alive. No, Audrey wouldn’t even consider that possibility.

  Stephen lifted her into the carriage and pulled her on his lap. Her entire body was shaking as the carriage began moving.

  It didn’t seem fair. She and Faye had quit last year. They had stopped their illegal activities, tried to reform and lead a quiet life. But they seemed destined never to find it.

  Stephen rubbed her back, but she felt empty inside. She felt powerless.

  Her normal defenses were falling apart around her. Nothing would ever work out, nothing was the truth. She despised the victimized feeling that was coiling around her, but her protective walls had taken one too many assaults.

  “Where do you suppose they’ve taken your sister?”

  “l don’t know.” Her answer was hollow.

  “Who has her?”

  “Travers has her somewhere.” It just didn’t matter anymore if he knew.

  None of it mattered.

  “Telling me helps more than you realize.”

  She stared at the door panel. “That’s good.”

  He gave her a shake. “I know you’re upset, but snap out of it. You won’t help your sister this way. Be happy that she isn’t in there.”

  Audrey bit her lip and looked at him. “I am happy she isn’t in Newgate. I just don’t have another plan now that she’s not there.”

  “Well, I told you last night that Travers’s family has properties bordering mine.”

  Audrey focused on his mouth and some feeling came back into her limbs.

  “You did. I just didn’t think about it other than being concerned you knew each other.”

  “We’re going to have a long talk about dear Henry Travers on the way to the country tomorrow.”

  She studied his face, only a few inches from hers. “Why are you helping me?”

  “Because.”

  “That’s not an answer.”

  “I’m helping you because I want to.” He looked irritated.

  “And you think you know where Faye could be held?” Her world had somersaulted. The shock was still interrupting something in her brain.

  Everything had turned upside down. Stephen had somehow taken charge, and she felt as if she were flopping in the breeze, witless.

  “No, not for certain, but Travers has a number of properties. He owns places in remote areas that he could easily stow someone without attracting undo attention. One is in Buckinghamshire very near here, about a day’s ride. Fieldstone Manor, one of the ducal estates is next door.” She saw him grimace. “Actually, this trip will serve dual purposes for me.”

  “To determine what is wrong with your lands?”

  “Yes, I have only been to the estate a few times, and those were many years ago. I don’t know what I’ll find when I arrive.”

  “I can definitely be of assistance.” Color was returning to her cheeks. She was regaining her spirit.

  He raised a brow.

  “I’ve been to Fieldstone a few times. To your property, not Travers�
��s. I had never met him before this year. But I know your estate well.”

  He gave a short laugh. “How’s that for a partnership. I’m helping to find your criminal sister, and you are helping me inventory my estate using the knowledge of your criminal past.”

  She studied him. “Sounds like a fair trade to me.”

  He returned her gaze as the carriage stopped. “Let’s hope it turns out well for both of us.” He moved to the door. “It’s important that I meet with a few of my people before we leave. You are welcome to stay in my town house if you need.”

  “No. No, I need to make my own plans.” She moved toward the door. “I will return in the morning.”

  She knew he wanted to say something more. But they both sat in silence.

  As the carriage slowed, Stephen nodded to her. ‘l will see you at dawn tomorrow.”

  Audrey turned and nearly ran from the carriage.

  Stephen watched her go, then returned to his town house. He didn’t know what to say to her anymore. She reminded him of his favorite plants—

  hardy and invincible one moment, delicate and vulnerable the next. She was all of those things, but somewhere in between was the real Audrey and he desperately wanted to find her.

  He sent a scheduling note to Logan. He planned to inform the solicitor in person that he would be traveling to Fieldstone tomorrow to inspect the properties. Stephen had considered not telling Logan, but gauging the man’s reaction to his announcement would speak volumes. Stephen would ascertain if his suspicions were true.

  He prowled through the library and absently examined the volumes on the shelf as Audrey had done. He had never been fond of ton living, and now it was thrust upon him. In the past, he preferred to remain a gentleman on the fringe of society, able to come and leave as he pleased and responsible only to himself.

  He walked to the window. He was perplexed. Now he didn’t know what he wanted. Of course, he didn’t want to be in debt. But to be alone no longer held the joy that it once had. He had been steadily changing over the past year. James and Calliope’s happy marriage had made an impact on him. They reminded him of the happiness his parents shared, an aberration among the ton.

  But his parents’ love hadn’t been enough to sustain them on earth. He smiled at the foolish thoughts of a young boy, but emotions rarely followed a logical path. It was becoming more difficult to hide behind the facade.

  A couple strolled down the street, a young boy and girl at their sides. He didn’t want a typical ton marriage, and if his suspicions proved true, then he didn’t care what anyone said, a ton marriage wasn’t his only choice.

  Logan cursed for the second time in his fifty-five years as he stumbled down Stephen Chalmers’s steps after their meeting. This new duke was too perceptive by far. Things were spinning wildly out of control.

  Thirty years of doing his best for the Dukes of Marston and it boiled down to dirty secrets and blackmail. He headed to Bow Street. It might not be too late to salvage things.

  But he needed to make sure he was covered first. With shaking hands, he jotted a note and handed it to a young boy on the corner. We have a problem …

  “What’s this all about?” Maddox grumbled as he slid onto the tavern bench.

  Travers rolled the bottom of his glass in a circle on the table. “We have a problem.”

  “Yeah?” Maddox grabbed the serving girl and ordered her to bring him ale. He turned back. “What problem?”

  Travers grimaced at the man’s lack of finesse. If it weren’t for Audrey, he wouldn’t put up with the fool across the table. “It looks like your dear stepdaughter has betrayed us. She was with the Duke of Marston last night.”

  “Yeah, so what? Sounds like your problem, not mine.”

  “No, Maddox, all of my problems are now your problems.” Maddox snorted and Travers smiled unpleasantly. “I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss the issue. l know for a fact the Hendrix brothers are looking for a man who owes them a considerable amount of money.”

  Maddox’s laughter ceased, and his face blanched. Travers examined his perfect nails. “Nasty business they are in. Did you know that the bodies of the last men who crossed the brothers weren’t identified for weeks? They had to find all of the pieces first.”

  Sweat dotted Maddox’s forehead. “These men, um, who are they looking for?”

  “Seems that the man they are looking for gave a fake name and address.

  Good thinking, but not brilliant. All it takes is a description of the man and a few hints.” l

  The serving girl appeared, and Maddox snatched the mug from her hand.

  “So what do you want from me?” His hand shook and ale sloshed onto the table.

  Travers moved his pristine sleeve out of the way. To what depths had he sunk to be conversing with this buffoon? He smoothed his cuff. A foolish question; he had always done what needed to be done. “I want you to talk to your stepdaughter.”

  “She ain’t gonna listen. Damn girl has a wicked tongue and a more wicked reach with those knives. You talk to her—you seem to rein her in proper.” He fingered his arm and took another drink.

  “And then what would I need you for?”

  Maddox paused and lowered his mug. He finally seemed to understand.

  “Fine. I’ll get her to see reason.” He moved his shoulders as if gearing up for a fight.

  “l don’t want you to beat her. Use … incentives. You can even use her sister Faye as an enticement.”

  “Don’t know nothing about Faye.”

  “She’s all tied up. A pig in a poke.” Travers smiled at his own joke.

  Maddox looked confused, but that was neither unusual nor unexpected.

  “What?”

  “Nothing. Listen, I want you to—”

  “Sir, a message for you.”

  Travers looked at the boy who had run to their table. He took the note, and the boy hopped on one foot waiting for a reply

  He read the note, gripping it more tightly as he read each line. He didn’t usually shoot the messenger, but by God he was damn tempted. The boy seemed to sense his irritation and scooted back a few inches.

  He turned to the boy. “Get me paper, pen, and wax.”

  The boy ran to the bar, and Travers traced a furrow in the tabletop with his finger. He had to stay focused—he couldn’t lose everything now. His partner would kill him.

  The boy returned, and Travers grabbed the writing implements and scratched out a few lines. Gather the new recruits and meet me in an hour. He sealed the wax with his ring and flipped a coin to the boy, who snatched it and the note and ran off.

  Maddox raised his brow inquiringly, but on seeing the wrathful expression on Travers’s face, said nothing. Travers stretched his tight fingers, then curled them. Stretch, curl, stretch, curl.

  When he felt calm enough to speak he said, “What can you tell me about Audrey’s dealings with Chalmers?”

  Maddox snorted. “The bloke has been damn near courting her. Came by the other day to take her to the park, then the theater.”

  “What?” Travers’s rage built. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  Maddox shrugged. “You didn’t ask, did you? Besides, I ain’t your damn slave.”

  Travers reached across the table and grabbed Maddox by the lapels lifting him off his stool. He had to restrain himself from slamming his fist into the man’s nose. Cap the anger for now, he said to himself. Funnel it later.

  “Well, you are now my slave. I want accurate nightly reports from you and those worthless servants I hired.”

  Maddox avoided his eyes. Ah, so he had thought he would get in trouble if he told. That explained things better. He could use Maddox’s fear to his advantage.

  “Yeah, whatever.” Maddox slugged down his drink, but Travers could see the panic building in the man’s body.

  Good, he could forget about Maddox for a moment and concentrate on the more pressing problem. Travers jerked his knee up an
d down, a bad habit when he was in a rage. His toes absorbed the shock. A band of fear laced through his anger. By now Chalmers had to know about his involvement.

  He had been surprised to hear that he was packing to go to the country, but the note made everything clear. And that was dangerous. Audrey was going to be very, very sorry that she had crossed him. He was done being patient with her.

  “The two of them went to Newgate to free Faye today. And Chalmers is leaving for a trip to the country in the morning.” Travers gripped his tankard tightly. “She has thrown her lot in with Chalmers, has she? We’ll see what Chalmers has to say when she is arrested for murdering his solicitor.”

  He laughed and began to focus his anger and fear. “Yes, poor little Audrey is about to be thrown into prison for real this time. And she’s going to be begging me to save her. ”

  Maddox looked at him as if he had lost his mind. “Thought you needed her to complete your tasks, or plans, or whatever it is you’re doing.”

  “Oh, she will complete the tasks.” He would make certain of it. “lf she doesn’t—”

  Another messenger appeared at their table and handed him a note. The boy took off without awaiting a reply as Travers opened the note. It was Audrey’s handwriting.

  You will have your long-lost item soon.

  He laughed, a bit of euphoria lacing through the rage and fear. The power of it was exhilarating. “She will complete her tasks indeed.”

  He laughed again, but the pitch was abnormally high. He cleared his throat. “Clever girl. She will complete them better now than she could have before. And Chalmers is going to be very sorry he got involved with her. Very sorry. I could not have asked for more.”

  But Audrey still needed to be punished for her insubordination at Newgate. Having her spend a little more time in prison would curb her independence before he graciously made it up to her afterward.

  There was no need to inform his partner about these latest developments.

  It was time for him to take charge. The fear left him. Audrey would steal back what rightfully belonged to him, then he would pin everything on her if need be.