***
It was half past noon, and I was coming down the stairs from having changed my frock into an afternoon gown when I saw Richard. I stopped and turned, fleeing up the stairs, out of view before he noticed me. Peeking around the wall as he was let into Jack’s library, my curiosity got the best of me, and when Arnaud left the foyer I went down the stairs to the library door. It had not been shut completely, so I was able to hear what was being said.
“Please be seated.” Jack sounded calm. “There is something I wish to discuss with you.” What could Jack possibly want to discuss with Richard? “At my sister’s party I met a vision and I understand that she is your ward.”
Richard barked out a laugh. “My boy, it will take a strong man to tame that filly. A firebrand is what she is.”
“Sir, I will have you know that poetry is considered a powerful weapon upon the senses.”
Richard laughed again, but Jack interrupted him. “Could you tell me about her? Who were her family? From where does she hail?”
It was silent for a moment before Richard said, “She is seventeen and her family is all gone. She hails from Boston, and she has recently become betrothed. So as you can see, she is not for you.”
“To what was once my only dream, a storm has come to break the sheen,” Jack replied reverently.
“Yes, yes,” Richard mumbled, and I nearly laughed. Relief was thrumming through me. If Miss Clark were betrothed, then Jack was safe.
“I hear that it is to you that a man must come when seeking your sister’s hand in marriage. Surely your father, a worthy man I am sure, must have named someone older to have the final say in such a delicate decision.”
I was startled. Why would Richard be speaking about me?
“My father was not so gothic in his views. He knew that I would choose such a man for my sister that he would approve of.”
“I believe I know of such a man.” Richard’s voice sounded much too cheerful. “Nicholas Mansfield. You met him at the party. He would be most suitable, and he has the means to keep her in the comfort to which she is accustomed.”
The fiery lakes of Hell will freeze over first!
“You may have something there.”
My jaw slackened. Indignation coupled with outrage as I clenched my teeth. I looked through the crack in the door.
Richard was positively gleeful as he slapped his knee and sat back. “She is not growing any younger and we must work together, as the two men in her life who have her best interests in mind, to choose wisely for her.”
“May I ask what makes Nicholas Mansfield believe he would be a good match for my sister?”
“He assures me that your sister was taken with him at the ball; enough to cast herself against him in the pretense of stumbling so she could garner an introduction.”
My heart was beating wildly, my palms sweaty and aching as I dug my nails into my skin. So I had been right; he did not believe I had tripped. He thought I was after him. I shuddered. Disgusting!
“You should bring him by one day soon.” Jack was grinning. Grinning!
Richard laughed and said he would do that. Richard winked at Jack, “Best not to tell the ladies of our plans.”
“I concur wholeheartedly,” Jack replied with conviction.
Richard rose, and I leapt away from the door and ran to the dining parlor. I waited until I heard Richard leave the house before going back to the library.
Jack was leaning his head against the sofa with his eyes focused on the ceiling. “Father forgive me for what I have done that I should strike a deal with the devil’s own son.”
I shoved the door open, and it struck the wall. “You will have to do more than that to acquit you of such a sin, John Traitor Martin!” His head shot up.
Every thought was black as I stood inside the doorway with my hands on my hips, seething with anger. My chest was rising and falling as I huffed in and blew out short breaths through my nose.
Jack’s startled face and conscience-stricken eyes barely alleviated my anger. He slowly arose, his eyes never moving from my face.
“Now, Bess, it was not at all like that. You know me. Would I honestly make a deal with the son of the devil if I did not have a good reason?”
“I do not care what your reason,” I lied. “You betrayed me to him.”
Jack sighed and came toward me. I stepped away from his outstretched hand, but he was reaching for the door, not for me. He closed the door, then walked back to the sofa, but he did not sit.
“Listen, Bess, I had no intention of betraying you, but I saw an opportunity and I took it.”
“An opportunity? Is that what I am to you? I suggest you explain.” I crossed my arms over my chest and waited.
“You know that our father told us that chances present themselves every day if we only have ears to hear. Nicholas has knowledge hidden in his house, and I needed an opportunity to search for it. You are to be that opportunity.”
I bit my bottom lip as I thought that over. It did sound logical, and it sounded like something I would have done, as would our father. Uncrossing my arms, and moving to sit on the sofa, Jack sat beside me.
“I am listening,” I said.
“Richard will bring Nicholas to call on you, and you will keep both men entertained for at least an hour. Giving me enough time to ride to his house and search for the black box.”
“An hour? That is not possible.”
“Three quarters of an hour then. I need as long as you can give me. His house is only two roads from here, but I will need time to get inside and search.” Jack waited silently even though he knew I would never give up such an opportunity.
“I will try to keep them here as long as I can, but you must be swift. Half an hour is the correct time for a call, and I am not sure I could keep them here longer.”
Jack smiled and squeezed my shoulder with that brotherly affection that said he appreciated me.
My mother came in a few minutes later, and by the look on Jack’s face; I could tell that he wanted to speak to her about Richard.
Rising, Jack told her that he was glad to see her as there was something rather important that we needed to tell her.
“This sounds intriguing,” Mother said with a smile.
“It is about Richard.”
Her smile wilted as she looked from Jack to me.
Jack and I exchanged a glance, and I nodded.
“We went to observe a secret society in connection with one of our cases, and discovered that Richard is the leader of that society.”
“You mean Levitas, yes I know that he is the leader. It is a great honor for him to be chosen.”
She could not know all if she were still willing to marry him. “He has spoken to you of Levitas?” I asked cautiously.
“Richard has no secrets from me.” Her back went straighter; her chin angled a touch higher in the air. “He told me that it is a society that strives to better this country, and he is leading the way. He is truly honorable.”
She believed that rubbish. Anger was filling my chest as I gripped my knees and leaned forward. “Mama, it is not—” he cut in, “I appreciate your concern. I know that my marrying is difficult for you to accept, but I love Richard, I trust him, and I need you to trust me. I know what I am doing.”
I opened my mouth to speak again, but Jack caught my attention and shook his head. I snapped my mouth closed as my mother stood.
When the knocker on the front door sounded, Mother gave me a look that said she expected me in the drawing room to greet callers, immediately.
After she went out Jack said, “So it begins.”
I cast him a scathing glance as I went out, shutting the door behind me.
Edith was in the drawing room with my mother. Breathing a relieved breath, I went to greet her. I had only just seated myself beside Edith when Miss Clark came in. As she sat, she told me she was returning the kindness since my brother and I had called upon her.
Another caller arrived, o
ne of my mother’s friends, so Edith, Miss Clark, and I settled upon a sofa together.
“Are you excited about your party?” I asked Edith.
Her face perked up, and her blue eyes grew round with excitement. “Yes, I love any opportunity to dance.”
She was such a lively dancer, the only time she ever showed that vivacious side of herself in society.
She turned until our knees were touching, and she leaned near me whispering, “My uncle says that Mr. Monroe has promised to make an appearance since he will be in Philadelphia.”
Miss Clark’s head snapped up from staring at her hands. She gazed at Edith through narrowed eyes.
“That is wonderful,” I said, truly pleased but curious about Miss Clark’s expression. James Monroe was a kind man and a friend of our family whom I had not seen him since my father’s funeral.
“Uncle Harvey says that Mr. Monroe is bringing a young man with him,” she swallowed hard, a look of fear shadowing her face, “to meet me.”
“Well, you may be sure that if it is so, he will be a nice man. Your uncle would not allow any knaves or pirates into his house.”
Edith laughed, her soft voice happy again. “Oh Bess, you and your pirates.”
When Edith was younger she would beg me to tell her stories, and it was my pirate stories that she enjoyed the most. What she did not know was that the story about the maiden dressing as a boy and sneaking aboard the ship then being forced to leap over the side into the icy water had all happened to me. Though those had been smugglers.
“I have heard that there were some dashing pirate captains who roamed the seas a hundred years ago.”
Miss Clark laughed. “The way you speak it sounds as if you would like to marry a pirate.”
“No,” I replied after a thoughtful moment, “it would be most uncomfortable, never knowing if he were alive or dead. And, sadly, pirates are no longer the fashion. Now, a pirate catcher, I could marry one of those. I would get to meet some real pirates.”
Miss Clark and Edith laughed, and then Edith snorted, and we three laughed together.
Edith’s carriage was the first to call for her, and after she had left, Miss Clark lingered. I had my suspicions why. When I walked with her into the foyer, she glanced at the closed library door speaking with perfect candor.
“I had hoped to see your brother.”
“He will be most desolate to have missed seeing you, but Jack tries to be away from home when my gentlemen callers arrive. He says it hurts his poetical heart to see them making cakes of themselves.”
She was watching me thoughtfully. “Jack?”
I never did get the chance to reply, for when Arnaud opened the front door for her to go out, Richard and Nicholas were standing on the other side.
Drat! Where was Jack?
Miss Clark looked as if she were thinking the same. Richard had wasted no time in bringing Nicholas to me; devil take him. Richard greeted us both kindly, but Nicholas looked as if he would like to gobble us up, one for dinner and the other, dessert.
“How fortunate we are, Richard, to come upon two such lovely roses.”
His attempt at flattery left us untouched. The man required instruction. Dudley could train him in the art of compliments. I nearly laughed at the thought of sticking Dudley to the task. Miss Clark did not reply to Nicholas, but bid me good-bye and went out of the house without a word to either man.
“Will you not come into the drawing room? Arnaud, please bring tea.” I led the way to the drawing room, but stood at the door for them to enter. The library door open and Jack smiled and slipped out of the house.
Do make haste, Jack, I thought and then entered the lion’s den.
Chapter 11
Phantoms In Philadelphia (Phantom Knights Book 1) Page 15