A Ravishing Lady For The Rebellious Marquess (Steamy Historical Regency Romance)

by Violet Hamers

  This can’t be right.

  Yet the more she tried to make sense of the news, the more it sounded like jargon to her.

  Does Father have a hand in this?

  Did he do more than just vote against Kenneth’s bill?

  Kenneth was his main political rival, after all, and her father was a seasoned politician. Had he used this opportunity to dispatch his opponent in one fell swoop?

  Adam hadn’t stopped snickering but even his banter was inconsequential at this point. It took a moment for her to realize that her mother had also been observing her keenly.

  She hoped she hadn’t given too much away with her reaction. Adam stood up then, kissed his mother on the cheek and walked away laughing. As his laughter faded into the distance, she pulled out a chair and sat down.

  “You love him, don’t you?” her mother said, catching her by surprise.

  “I beg your pardon?” she responded. “Where did that come from, Mother?”

  There was no immediate response from her mother. Rose thought it was best to leave it that way. She stood up from the chair she’d only just sat on a few moments ago.

  “I’ll be off now,” she announced to her mother, dropping the newspaper on the table.

  “Everyone else has read it, Rose. You can take it with you,” her mother said.

  There was a soft moment shared between them then. It was a reprieve from all the tension that had existed between them since this betrothal business began.

  “Thank you,” she said simply, as she walked away.

  She navigated through the house on the way to the study, with the paper in her hand. Not only was she going to challenge her father about the vote, she was also going to look into his eyes and ask him if he had anything to do with Kenneth’s arrest.

  As she rounded the corner and approached the study, she could hear a loud argument underway. The door to the study was slightly ajar. The occupants were probably not aware of this.

  On closer inspection, she realized that it was her father’s voice that was doing all the shouting.

  She arrived at the door and stood to the side, placing her ears close enough to the gap to hear but not be discovered.

  “The effrontery to even insinuate that I had something to do with this is preposterous,” her father objected.

  “I didn’t mean to offend you by my insinuation, My Lord. But this is your main political rival, after all. It isn’t out of place for me to think some shady business has been done behind the scene,” the gentleman responded. “Especially since I read that draft and saw nothing wrong with that bill.”

  Is someone accusing father of having a hand in Kenneth’s arrest?

  “So what are you trying to say?” her father queried.

  “I am not trying to say anything. I am only letting you know the thoughts making the rounds with some of the respected members of our political party.”

  “So you all think I did this? You all think I had a hand in this?” her father challenged.

  “With the influence you wield in parliament, we think that even if you didn’t do this, you might have still been aware of the plot and done nothing to stop it,” the gentleman offered.

  She heard someone slam their hand into the table. It obviously had been her father. His temper was conspicuous even from where she stood.

  “For God’s sake, the Marquess of Walsrock, even with all his shortcomings, remains the only son of my friend. Do you all really think that in the pursuit of my personal ambition, I will do something so drastic that would inadvertently harm my friend as well?”

  For some reason, even though she herself had thought about the possibility of her father’s involvement, hearing him now had cleared her doubt. Her father was definitely not involved in Kenneth’s arrest. That was the only reason why he was this angry—because he was telling the truth.

  “My Lord, like I said earlier, this isn’t an attempt to destroy your reputation. These are genuine and valid concerns that have been formed through observations. Someone is behind Lord Walsrock’s predicament and whether you would like to admit it or not, you are the one who stands to gain the most from his misfortune in parliament.”

  Her father’s response didn’t come immediately. When it eventually did, his voice was low and reverberated through the room like the sound of a thunder clap during a rain storm.

  “I have been involved in politics since before you ever stepped foot into parliament. In all that time, I have never lied, cheated, manipulated, or schemed in order to achieve my goal.”

  “My Lord…” the gentleman tried to interject before her father cut him off mid-sentence.

  “I’m not done talking. My methods have been honest and far removed from fraudulent activities and I will not start now. So believe what you want to believe. Just know that I played no part in Lord Walsrock’s arrest and I’ll be damned if I let anyone push such an explanation and tarnish my stellar reputation.”

  “My Lord…” the gentleman tried yet again to interject.

  “This conversation is over. Please see yourself out,” her father decreed.

  Rose felt a swell of pride rise up within her. Not only had her father not been involved in the shady business behind Kenneth’s arrest, he’d also defended his name and integrity in such a manner that she could only feel pride at being his daughter.

  She listened closer and still didn’t hear footsteps of the gentleman leaving. So she knocked and stepped in, pretending to have just arrived at the study.

  “Oh, morning, Father. I didn’t know you had a guest. I could come back when you are less busy,” she lied.

  “No need for that, Rose. He was just leaving,” her father responded, his glare concentrated on the mysterious man.

  For a moment, it seemed the visitor wouldn’t move even after he’d been dismissed. The moment seemed to stretch into eternity as Rose watched on.

  Eventually, the visitor smiled, excused himself and walked out.

  “So, what can I do for you?” her father said, turning to face her. There was a softness in his voice that almost startled her, completely different from the thunder that had just quaked through the study.

  “I just read the news,” she responded, bringing out the newspaper and showing him the headline. “I came here to find out how grave the situation is and if there is any solution?”

  Her father exhaled and turned his gaze toward the window.

  “The honest truth is I really do not know what we can do in this situation. To bring an end to this, we have to find a way to calm the raging commoners,” her father said.

  “Sounds like there is a but somewhere.”

  “To calm the raging masses, we need Lord Walsrock. He became their voice in parliament and apparently, they will listen to him. However, we can’t get Lord Walsrock because he is being charged with instigating the crowds in the first place, an accusation he vehemently denies.”

  “And do you believe him, Father? Do you believe he didn’t incite any protests as the papers are claiming?”

  Her father took a deep breath before answering.

  “The Marquess is many things—an intelligent gentleman, an eloquent speaker, and a cunning politician. But what he is not is a troublemaker. No, I do not believe he incited the masses to protest. Either the detectives have built a wrong case against him or someone is pulling the strings from behind the scene,” her father answered.

  She exhaled the breath she didn’t know she’d been holding. Her father’s response put her at ease in more ways than one.

  “So what do we do about the protests?” she asked, being careful not to reveal that her true intentions were for the Marquess and his safety.

  “We? No, daughter. I am going to confer with some of my colleagues on how best to manage this situation. You, on the other hand, are going to get back to preparations for your wedding. Speaking of wedding, didn’t you tell me this morning that you were on your way to Lord Rockgonie’s manor?” her father asked.

  “I wa
s. But when I heard about the protests, I didn’t think it was safe for just me and Elsa to be out on the streets by ourselves,” she responded.

  Her father gave brief thought to the matter before deciding to add some male servants to her entourage.

  “Go see your betrothed as planned. No harm will befall you, not while I remain the Earl of Somerholm,” her father vowed, causing a smile to spread across her lips.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Kenneth had been whisked away by the constables who had come to his house to question him. According to them, it was for his protection.

  He wouldn’t have been there, though, if he didn’t agree to come along with them. Left to the Duke, he would still be at home and there was nothing they would have been able to do about it.

  Even though he had been shocked by their request that he follow them to their office, quick thinking on his part had him retracting his reluctance to follow them.

  The Duke didn’t deserve to be dragged into this mess after maintaining a stellar and powerful reputation all these years.

  He also didn’t want to put anyone dear to him in the line of fire. He was probably safer there than he was at home as no one in their right minds would mount an assault on this location.

  Following them was also going to give him a fresh insight into the whole situation, and probably the identity of who was responsible for this mess. After all, fighting an unknown enemy was a lot harder than fighting one who was already known. He’d eventually decided to follow them.

  Another round of questioning had begun at the Bow Street Runners’ yard. He was being more careful this time, seeing as he didn’t know what their true intentions were, so they’d found it extremely difficult to get anything tangible out of him.

  One thing he would credit them with was that they had been careful with him since his arrival, almost as if they were being forced to pursue this case against their will.

  He could understand their reservations because not only was he the Marquess of Walsrock and a brilliant lawyer, he was also the son of a very powerful Duke. They had to be careful with how they carried on, as a misstep could spell the end of their careers.

  What he hadn’t been able to figure out was why they had come for him and why they had continued to ask specific questions, as if trying to get a confession or admittance from him.

  They’d been very particular about his whereabouts on days when he’d been busy with commoners, either in gathering research for his bill or trying to shelve the coming uprising.

  Has someone been following me around? And if yes, why?

  They’d continued the back and forth for a bit before someone else stepped in. From the way the constables addressed him, coupled with the air of authority around him, Kenneth could tell that this was a superior constable.

  “Lord Walsrock. I am Detective Cooper. I will be taking over from here on out,” the Detective said simply, as he dismissed the constables

  “Well, I will say it’s a pleasure to meet you but as you can see, these circumstances aren’t anywhere near pleasurable,” Kenneth remarked.

  There was a slight chuckle from the Detective.

  “Sharp wits, I see. I hope they will be enough to answer correctly, all the questions I ask.”

  “I have nothing to hide, so go ahead if you must,” Kenneth responded.

  The Detective brought out a tiny little notebook and began to flip through it.

  “Lord Walsrock, I would like to go straight to the point. Did you incite the masses to protests?”

  “I did not,” he answered simply.

  “So what were you doing at the dingy warehouse down on Elton Street about two weeks ago?”

  So someone had been watching me after all.

  “I was there to meet with some people I was trying to persuade into changing their minds and abandoning a set course of action,” he responded carefully.

  “And what set course of action was this?” Detective Cooper asked.

  “Some matters that required urgent attention, but cannot be stated at this time.”

  Detective Cooper smiled and shook his head.

  “So if you cannot state what the matter was, is it safe then to assume that said matter wasn’t one that existed within the boundaries of legality? I mean, considering the entities and unsavory characters you had chosen to have a meeting with. I do not see anyone discussing the Lord’s work with Burly Joe, Iron Fist Henry, and Knuckle Buster Mike, just to name a few.” Detective Cooper chided.

  “Careful now, Detective. You are in danger of sounding like one who has abandoned the science of empirical findings based on facts, for the art of assumptions and hearsay,” Kenneth teased dryly.

  “Oh, but this isn’t an assumption. We’ve got a statement from Burly Joe saying you met with him and his gang two weeks ago, even down to the description of what was said in that meeting,” the Detective said with a stern expression.

  “And what did he say was said?” Kenneth chuckled.

  Detective Cooper refrained from answering and instead posed another question.

  “What business have you with the Nabob known as Henry?” the Detective asked.

  The first alarm bells began ringing in Kenneth’s head. He brushed the feeling away and proceeded to answer the question.

  Henry, a wealthy merchant who had acquired his fortune in India, was one of the names on Leonard’s list. He was serving in the capacity of a financier for the revolt group. He was also one of the names Kenneth had tried to set up a meeting with, albeit unsuccessfully.

  “I tried to see Henry on a number of occasions to discuss business opportunities. Unfortunately, his schedule never permitted such a meeting, so I eventually gave up and sought other alternatives.”

  “Well, that’s not what he tells us,” the Detective answered. “He tells us that you tried to get him to finance an uprising and that he turned you down.”

  “I beg your pardon?” Kenneth exclaimed.

  “Oh, that is not all, Lord Walsrock. However, I’m glad to see that your countenance has changed. Hopefully, you are beginning to understand how serious of a matter this is. By the time we are done, I hope to have discovered the truth.”

  They already have damning evidence and confessions against me? Are they trying to implicate me in all this?

  The Detective bent down and pulled a receipt from the file that he’d earlier dropped on the table.

  “Do you know what this is?” he asked as he presented it to Kenneth.

  “It does look like an invoice or a receipt of purchase of some kind,” Kenneth remarked.

  “You are right. It is a receipt validating the purchase of munitions from a weapons manufacturer in France.”

  “All right. What does that have to do with me?” Kenneth asked, getting exasperated.

  “Do you recognize the signature at the bottom of the receipt?” Detective Cooper asked.

  Kenneth eyes trailed down to the bottom and he suddenly froze. Right there at the bottom of the receipt for the purchase of munitions was his name and signature detailed out to perfection.

  “What the hell is going on?” Kenneth railed, losing his calm for the first time since he arrived at their office.

  Detective Cooper ignored his outburst and continued with the interrogation.

  Someone is definitely going through the trouble of making me look guilty.

  “Would you mind telling me about your bill?” Detective Cooper asked.

  “If you have gone through the trouble of procuring a false document that bears my signature, I’m confident in the fact that you already know what my bill is about,” Kenneth responded.

  The Detective simply smiled and produced two copies of the bill he’d presented to parliament; the first one from his first presentation and the second from his last presentation.

  “Is this what it was about?” Detective Cooper asked, waving the copies of the bills in front of him.

  “I am not sure I follow,” Kenneth responded.

>   “Well, the story being peddled in some circles is that you were so passionate about your cause, that when it was trampled upon by your colleagues, you decided to teach them a lesson.”

  “You are reaching now, Detective. And frankly, I’m beginning to get bored,” Kenneth bluffed. “Yes, I have always been passionate about my cause, but I have never been vexed to the point where I felt I needed to exact vengeance on my fellow Lords for turning the bill away.”