The duke frisked him quickly, efficiently, thoroughly, even patting his shirt front a few times and arms to be sure he’d nothing stashed inside his clothing. Satisfied he carried no paper; the duke declared the accusation false and made them shake hands. “Wilks, you were wrong, and Mr. Dawes was provoked enough to defend himself. That is the end of it. Wilks, go sleep it off and cause me no more trouble.”
However, the way Wilks glared at him alerted Jeremy that it wasn’t over. The man’s eyes almost glowed with hate. “Perhaps I misplaced it,” Wilks conceded.
“I’ll have my staff bring me anything they find.” Then the duke turned to Jeremy, frowning. “Inside. My library. Now.”
Jeremy complied, striding straight toward the duke’s library with a confidence he didn’t exactly feel. The duke was sure to follow, and then Jeremy would have to be damn quick to nick the contract back before Stapleton stuck his hand in his own pocket.
Fanny’s brothers caught up to him as soon as he reached the library doorway. They drew him across the room to the decanters. “Nice little fight you had brewing there, Dawes, or would have been if Father hadn’t interfered,” Lord Samuel complained.
“Wilks could do with being taken down a peg or two,” Lord Milo agreed, wearing a wide smirk of his own. Samuel poured port for the three of them. Milo, though, captured Jeremy’s hand and inspected his knuckles. “No harm seems to be have been done.”
“A pity some harm hadn’t happened to Wilks’ face,” Samuel muttered. “He’s traded off his looks and his title far too much in my opinion. No doubt someone will break that smirk off his face eventually. We were so hoping it would be you. What did Wilks want back?”
“I’ve no idea.”
“Must be some love letter he’s lost,” Milo murmured, teasing perhaps. “Did you know Wilks ruined a business deal of our sisters last year? Seduced her previous maid to find out her plans before anyone. Not that we could prove it then. The way he’s followed her about tonight leads me to think he’s meddling with her life again, or his father has set him to it. And then I saw him talk to you tonight like old friends.”
Jeremy frowned. “Why would Wilks seduce Fanny’s maid and not Fanny?”
“Fanny is too smart to fall for false flattery or let down her guard around men coming courting. The maid was foolish in the extreme to trust any promises he made her.” Milo pursed his lips. “Cost Fanny a fortune to unentangle herself from the project. But Fanny has a knack for turning everything things she touches into gold, so the loss was negligible in the end. She deserves better.”
“Yes,” Jeremy murmured.
Milo studied him. “We shouldn’t like to see her wings clipped by any man in any marriage.”
Jeremy agreed. “Nor would I. She is unlike any woman I’ve ever met.”
He glanced down at his hand as his knuckles started to throb.
“You might want to get some ice for that.” Milo nodded. “Ask the housekeeper to bind it, too. I’d better go mingle before Father sends me to a corner, too. He hates it when his children brawl.”
Milo strolled from the room whistling and Jeremy was left alone with Samuel.
Jeremy turned to Samuel. “I thought the duke was coming to the library, too?”
“My father sends everyone to the library when he wants to cool his own temper.” Samuel smiled and flicked up his fingers. Jeremy was astonished to see a folded piece of paper in his possession. “I’m thinking you’ll be wanting this back.”
Jeremy blinked. “Where did you get that?”
Samuel smiled as he unfolded it and appeared to read it rapidly. “From my father’s own pocket. I possess none of your unique skills at picking pockets, but I have a habit of hugging him still, so…voilà. Well done pinching back Fanny’s paper from Wilks. How on earth did he get hold of it?”
Jeremy wet his lips. “Why do you think it’s Fanny’s?”
“The paper and handwriting is hers. She writes all her family correspondence on the same sheets, too. Also, it’s signed by her…and you. A fascinating arrangement you have here.” Samuel passed it over. “You should really keep something so sordid under lock and key. People could misunderstand.”
Jeremy began to feel uneasy about that contract. What else was in it that he hadn’t understood? “I will.”
Lord Samuel inclined his head and turned about, heading for the exit.
Jeremy followed more slowly, stuffing the note inside his shirt. Samuel had already disappeared when Jeremy paused in the front hall. He did not want to return to the ball with the contract in his possession, certainly Lord Wilks lurked about and would watch for another chance to frisk him.
He turned for the stairs.
“Mr. Dawes!”
He shut his eyes briefly, wishing Fanny hadn’t come looking for him. He turned politely though and saw Thwaite lurking at her side again. “Lady Rivers. Lord Thwaite.”
She wet her lips. “We wondered where you’d gone. I heard…”
He thrust out his hand to show her his knuckles were only barely marked. “It was a misunderstanding. I was just on my way to get some assistance from the housekeeper.”
Fanny caught his hand in hers and peered at his reddened knuckles, wincing. “How bad is this?”
“Stings a bit but Milo feels nothing is broken.”
She sighed in relief. “I’m very glad to hear it.”
Thwaite smirked, eyes sliding to Fanny. “I assured Lady Rivers that there’s no ill feeling on my son’s part either. The duke settled the matter. Wilks had a bit too much to drink. Besides, a bit of competition between young men over a lady’s affections is good to see, especially when so great a prize is at stake.”
Fanny’s eyes dropped and he saw she was uncomfortable with the comment. Did she know Thwaite had taken their agreement, and passed it off to his son? Perhaps she did, or perhaps it was only the talk of winning her favor that bothered her. “My lady, might I have a private word with you?” he asked.
Thwaite held out his arm impatiently. He might as well have snapped his fingers, for the action caused Jeremy’s hackles to rise. No man should treat Fanny that way. She belonged to no one but herself. “I’m afraid your word will have to wait. Lady Rivers has agreed to dance with me next, and then my son.”
Her smile was brittle. “Yes. Indeed.”
Jeremy took a step in her direction. “It will only take a moment.”
She seemed torn but shook her head. Her face never rose to his as she whispered, “If you would excuse me. I must go.”
She gathered up her skirts and headed into the ballroom with a grinning Thwaite following closely behind. Jeremy moved down one step, keen not to lose sight of her.
“It’s fascinating that my family continues to associate with that slimy bastard,” Samuel said as he emerged from the shadows of a nearby chamber. “Don’t fret about m’sister. I’ll keep an eye on her for you tonight. Get that hand looked at and leave Thwaite and his lecherous son to me. And for heaven’s sake, put that piece of paper in a safer place than where they must have found it the first time.”
Startled by his accurate assessment of the problem, Jeremy nodded and started up the stairs. Once he was in the dubious safety of his chamber, he fished the agreement out of his pocket. Squinting at it by moonlight, he tried to make sense of it for the next hour. But the task defeated him. He nearly crumpled it in frustration. He simply had to find someone trustworthy to read it to him…but who to trust in this place escaped him. The best person for the task was Fanny, but then she would find out he could not read.
And with Thwaite and Wilks hovering about her, he likely couldn’t ask until tomorrow.
He glared at the paper. The best time to return the agreement to Fanny’s chambers was probably now. He could slip into her chambers, open the safe, and lock the agreement away with none the wiser.
Chapter 11
Fanny hugged her brother Samuel’s arm tightly as they strolled through the woods between the tall trees after c
alling upon Mrs. Hawthorne. The duke had impressed upon every single family member his desire to make a large show of respect for his departed friend who would be buried that very day. Everyone had ditched breakfast forks to accommodate his request for their participation in the visit. Everyone with sense and a desire for another invitation to spend time at Stapleton had kept their complaints about the early hour strictly to themselves, too.
The family was now officially in mourning for their friend and neighbor, and a great many of the guests would be leaving today.
Especially Lord Wilks and his father, Lord Thwaite. Wilks was a pest, and Thwaite kept trying to get her agreement to talk to her alone. Thanks to her brother’s continued presence around her last night, Thwaite had never had a chance.
But earlier in the evening, Thwaite had made it plain that he had the agreement she’d signed with Dawes in his possession. He’d found it lying around, he’d claimed. He was prepared to have it returned to her today before he and his son departed.
Fanny expected to be blackmailed during the meeting.
But it would be Wilks who would meet with her to do the deed. She was suspicious of that, and was preparing herself for a demand of money to buy his silence as well.
She looked up at Samuel when he sighed heavily. His brow was drawn in lines of concentration. “What’s the matter with you today?”
“Nothing really.”
She hugged his arm again. “Is everyone pestering you to remarry as much as they are me?”
“It is as relentless as ever,” he noted. “Do they have nothing better to think about?”
“I fear not. I thought I had become adroit at changing the subject until yesterday,” Fanny murmured. “Yesterday’s entreaties to wed sorely tested my patience with everyone. Some bordered on desperate. I had no idea so many of our acquaintances had younger sons in need of a wife’s fortune to prop up their family’s situations. I mean, of course I’d gladly sacrifice my own happiness to dig them out of troubles of their own making.”
Samuel chuckled softly. “So, no chance of a wedding for you then?”
“No one who claims to love me, loves my fortune less.”
Samuel threw his arm around her shoulders. “Fools, all of them. Your greatest assets have always been your heart, and your intellect.”
Fanny hugged her brother back. “It is the way the world works, I’m sorry to say. There isn’t a man alive who doesn’t believe my fortune would be more capably managed in his hands than mine.”
“I don’t think that,” Samuel protested.
“You have to say that because you’re my brother. I’d never speak to you again if you thought me inferior to any man.”
“Never would I want that,” he grinned. “I’m sure there are many men who would give you your head in marriage. Not Wilks, of course, but your Mr. Dawes doesn’t seem to object to being ordered about.”
She tensed. “That is different.”
“It must be quite the novelty that he’s not exactly fawning all over you. I like him all the more for it.”
“Yes, he does seem unimpressed by wealth,” she said, feeling a renewed sense of disappointment that she’d ended up sleeping alone last night. The additional lock she’d not asked for had ensured no one could have entered her chamber. But Jeremy had left the party well before the festivities had truly reached their height. She had hoped he might come back down after his hand had been looked at, but he’d retired. She had wanted to ask about his fight with Wilks. “I have high hopes for him, as I’ve had for every other soul I’ve sought to help on their way to a better future.”
“Your charity work is admirable but one day it’s going to get you into trouble,” Samuel warned.
“That is what he said, too.”
“So, this connection you’ve begun with Dawes. Was it his idea or yours?”
She shrugged. “Mine, of course.”
“Why not someone of our class? Surely there’s someone you know who would share your bed without getting paid for it.”
Fanny froze. “He has not shared my bed.”
Samuel looked at her sideways. “That’s not what your contract with him suggests.”
Fanny looked at her brother with a sinking feeling. If Samuel knew, then Father knew. She was surprised he hadn’t given her another scolding, even if she was too old for them now. “How did you—”
“A better question to ask is how Wilks got his slimy fingers on your private papers?”
She didn’t say but closed her eyes. “Wilks showed you the contract. What did he ask of you?”
“Wilks asked me for nothing, but I take it he and his father are attempting to blackmail you over it, given their behavior toward you last night.”
She nodded quickly. “I am to meet with Wilks today before he and his father leave, to retrieve the contract. I have no doubt he’ll present me with a list of demands for his silence and a bill to pay. Don’t worry, I can handle him myself.”
“You don’t know yet? Devil take it.” Samuel looked about frantically. “You must speak to Dawes before your meeting with Wilks takes place.”
“Why? I don’t need his help or any man’s.” Fanny stared at her brother. He was usually the least excitable of all her siblings but not at this moment.
“You do now,” Samuel pulled her off the path to whisper, “The only thing Thwaite and Wilks have is an empty threat.”
Fanny gripped her brother’s arm. “How?”
“Ask Dawes. I can see now why you might want to keep him around.” Samuel grinned. “Most proper gentleman wouldn’t be able to pick a pocket as easily as he did last night and get away with it.”
“Picking pockets!? No, he couldn’t have done that.”
“Saw it with my own eyes.” Samuel nodded enthusiastically. “Very impressive. One day I must ask him to show me how it’s done. You know how I love charlatans and thieves.”
Fanny looked around for Jeremy too, now, but he seemed to have fallen far behind in the procession leading back to Stapleton Manor. She turned back to Samuel. “I can’t see him. Can you?”
Samuel, much taller than Fanny, rose up on his toes. “No, I can’t, actually. Strange. I wonder what’s become of him.”
A feeling of dread settled in her stomach. What if Wilks had found him to finish what he’d started last night?
She had to find Jeremy immediately. She glanced around again and saw that everyone on their walk had caught up.
Since there was no sign of Jeremy, she grabbed her father’s arm when he drew level to find out what he knew. “Papa, what has become of Mr. Dawes?”
“He’s behind,” Father said, looking back then, too. “Now, where the devil has that boy disappeared to? He was just there a moment ago.”
She craned her neck, but she and Father were the last in the procession now. Samuel had fallen back into the line with everyone else. “When exactly did you see him?”
Father scratched his jaw. “I’m sure we spoke in the woods. He asked about the age of a tree, of all things. Perhaps he paused to rest there.”
Fanny pressed her lips together momentarily. “I’ll go back and fetch him. I’ll join you all for luncheon shortly.”
“Don’t be too long.” Father pointed to the horizon. “That’ll be a nasty storm I should think when it finally arrives.”
“Then I’d better hurry and find him.” Fanny hitched up her skirts and rushed back along the path until she reached the trees. It was dark and gloomy inside the woods now, thanks to the approaching storm, and Jeremy might have gotten himself turned around. She should have kept a closer eye on him. The city-bred actor hardly knew his way around the manor and gardens, let alone a dark wood.
“Mr. Dawes,” she called and stepped deeper into the gloom, listening intently for an answer. “Jeremy Dawes, show yourself.”
Silence.
Taking one last look at the approaching dark skies, Fanny continued into the wood, glancing left and right of the trail. Jeremy had been wearin
g a moss-green coat today, which would make him exceptionally hard to see against the color of the forest surrounds.
Fanny had gone halfway back to the Hawthornes when she finally spotted him.
He was sitting upon an old tree stump to one side of the path. Legs crossed. Posture relaxed. Unworried by his isolation.
“Mr. Dawes,” she cried out much louder than she needed to.
He startled and searched for her. “Fanny! What the devil are you doing here?”
“Looking for you.” Fanny rushed to him. “What are you doing sitting there like that on the old tree stump? You had me so worried.”
She sounded to her own ears like a mother scolding a child, and Fanny was definitely not that to Jeremy Dawes. She made an effort to calm herself.
“I didn’t mean to worry you,” he swore. He glanced around the wood and sighed. “I was just sitting here thinking that I’ve never been anywhere that I could be so entirely alone in my whole life.”
She blinked. “I beg your pardon.”
He stood up on the stump. “When I was a child, there were other orphans like me where I lived. We shared a straw corner, a cup for water, food. Punishments too. We were all walking along in a line today, as I had to do as a child sometimes at the orphanage, and I just stopped dead in my tracks. I didn’t even care that I’d be left behind. I was happy to be alone. When I was young, that would have terrified me.”
“Well, I would care if you’d been lost.”
He smiled gently. Dismissively. “It’s kind of you to say so.”
She drew closer and thrust out her hand. “Come home with me now.”
He looked around again. “I think I should like to live somewhere like this.”
“In the woods?”
He nodded slowly. “I like the peace and the quiet very much. I never thought I would care for it. The country. It’s so different from anything I’ve ever known.”
Fanny stretched her hand out a little more. “I think you will not care for it when your belly is empty and your fire will not catch alight because the wood was so damp. And what of your ambition to become a leading actor on London’s greatest stage? There’s no audience to flatter your performance here. Come down from there now and attend me.”
The Lady Tamed Page 11