by Jennifer Joy
“I apologize, Miss Darcy. I was hoping you would come. Mr. Tanner,” the woman said, pulling a lace fan from her reticule and waving it beguilingly in front of her face. Arabella’s displeasure with the woman only increased when she eyed him up and down, appraising him as she was no doubt accustomed to men appraising her.
The woman turned to Arabella, moving closer to her so that Arabella caught the scent of her jasmine perfume. “You must be Arabella.”
“Have we met?” Arabella’s dislike for the brazen woman’s use of her Christian name grated on her already frayed nerves.
“Please forgive me. I have so often heard your name, I have come to think of you as a friend. A sister in arms if you will. We are very much alike, you and I. Only, you managed to escape in time. You do not realize how fortunate you were.” She reached her hand out to Arabella, then pulled back suddenly, her boldness weakening under Arabella’s gaze and waning her initial prejudices.
“This is not about the dress, is it?” asked Arabella.
“No. I wish to escape too.”
“From whom?”
“Lord Lofton.”
When the woman sank onto the settee in the group of chairs behind them, Arabella sat beside her.
Tanner recognized the restraint of an abused woman who longed for care and friendship. He employed several of them at his inn.
Arabella’s wariness dissipated toward the woman at the mention of Lord Lofton’s name.
Georgiana, always one to take the side of the injured and wronged, sat on the woman’s other side.
Tanner was not so easily swayed. Too many sought help only to turn back to the men from whom they had attempted to flee. It never went well … for the woman or for the individual who attempted to help her. He would be cautious.
The mystery woman and Arabella were as opposite as night and day. Arabella had regrets, but her poor choices had been made in innocence. Tanner did not believe the same could be said of the woman seated beside her.
“Who are you?” Tanner asked, dropping his chin to his chest and giving her his sternest look. If he so much as suspected a lie or a trap, they were out of there.
“I am Honoria Seymour, Lofton’s mistress.”
Just as he had suspected.
He nodded for her to continue.
“When Arabella ran away with her soldier, Lofton took solace in me. He promised to marry me, to take care of me when my father died and my step brother cast me out of my home with two younger sisters. I am not proud of my choices, but it enabled me to provide for the needs of my sisters in such a way they, at least, could keep their dignity.” She added softly, her shoulders sagging in a moment of vulnerability that lent her more credibility, “They are married now and want nothing to do with me.”
Georgiana exclaimed, “That is awful!”
Mrs. Seymour sneered, “There is nothing just about this life, Miss Darcy. But I am desperate enough to risk death to leave my old way of life — to begin anew. Pray I succeed where Ambrose failed.”
Arabella sat forward. “What do you know of Ambrose?”
“His kindness toward me gave me hope,” Mrs. Seymour said with a tender smile.
Arabella’s forehead furrowed. “Ambrose was never kind to me,” she said more in conflicting observation than in complaint.
Mrs. Seymour placed her hand on top of Arabella’s. “Perhaps you did not know him well enough. If he held you at a distance, it was for good reason.”
The woman clearly knew much more about Arabella and her brother’s strained relationship than they could imagine. Arabella had said nothing about him keeping her from her family. And yet, Mrs. Seymour knew.
Before Arabella could ask anything more about her brother, Mrs. Seymour continued, “Now, I cannot risk staying much longer or all will be lost. I have the means to take down Lord Lofton. Will you help me?”
“How do we know he did not send you?” Tanner asked.
“You do not. You will have to trust me just as I will have to trust you. If you fail me, I am as good as dead. He killed Ambrose, and I will be next if I am found out.” She clasped her fingers together and picked at her thumb nervously. “He always finds out.”
“Then why did you call us here?” Tanner fumed. “You have endangered us further by arranging this meeting.”
She bit her lips and looked away. “I am sorry. I had hoped not to involve your sister.”
There was not enough air in the room. Panic coursed through Tanner, and no matter how he pulled at his cravat and tugged at his collar, he could not fill his lungs. How did she know Georgiana was his sister? Who else knew?
She continued, “But it could not be helped you see? Do you not realize what he means to do not only to you, but to your family? He has taunted you openly in the newspaper — it is his favorite way of controlling the gentlemen he blackmails. He knows who you are, Mr. Tanner. He knows all of it. Unless you do exactly as he bids, he will hit you where it most hurts.”
Darcy, Mrs. Elizabeth, Georgiana, Arabella. Tanner felt wretched.
“So you see, you have no choice but to cooperate with me.” Mrs. Seymour held her chin up and looked at him unwaveringly.
Tanner felt trapped. Mrs. Seymour held all the cards, and his inclination was to leave before the trap sprung.
He flinched when Arabella broke the silence. “What do you want us to do?”
Mrs. Seymour spoke to Georgiana. “Go to your favorite bookshop on the morrow. I will provide what you need along with instructions on how to use it. It is a simple plan, but it will work.”
“That is all?” Georgiana asked.
“That is the easy part.”
Tanner rebelled. She knew far too much about them, and what did they know of her? “No. Miss Darcy is to have no further role in this. Keep her out of it, or we leave right now.”
“Need I remind you how skilled Lofton is with a pistol?” Mrs. Seymour snapped, adding, “Or with a team of horses? Or in swaying popular opinion and keeping his name above reproach when he is everything vile? He is equally skilled with his fists, and though you have the advantage of size, do not think for a minute that you can best him in the boxing ring.” She spoke quick and hard, her words dripping with desperation. “If you are content to expose your family and the woman you love to his threats, then so be it. But your tenacious determination to protect your family has convinced me that you are a man to be trusted. You will not bend before him no matter how deeply he strikes at you. I pray you do not prove me wrong, Mr. Tanner. Now, answer me. Do we have a deal?”
Tanner’s ears rang, and his pulse raced. He opened his mouth to contradict her, to say that his feelings for Arabella did not extend beyond admiration, but he could not. But love? Tanner did not know enough about the sentiment to recognize it.
“Yes,” said Georgiana. “Yes, we will go to the bookshop on the morrow.”
Though she had been given the reply she wished to hear, Mrs. Seymour’s stare did not depart from Tanner.
He needed more time. If he were convinced of her reliability, if he could think straight, he would not hesitate to agree to her plan. He would have liked to discuss the matter with Darcy. His level-headed logic was invaluable … and right now, with his emotions snarled and exposed, Tanner craved logic and facts.
But Darcy was not there. And they had no other plan.
The three ladies on the settee looked at him expectantly. Georgiana in eager anticipation, Mrs. Seymour in desperate intensity, and Arabella…. Would that he could read her thoughts.
“Mr. Tanner, will you agree to go to the bookshop on the morrow?” Mrs. Seymour repeated.
Arabella’s shoulders straightened and her chin lifted. Tanner could see as plain as day that, in her mind, she was already at the bookshop. He knew without a shadow of doubt that if he did not agree to accompany her, she would find a way to go without him. His decision was made.
“We will go to the bookshop, but I will not blindly agree to follow your plan if we can think of a be
tter one,” he said firmly.
Mrs. Seymour pinched her lips together, clearly displeased. “I have no other option but to trust you, Mr. Tanner. I will not disappoint you. I beg you not to disappoint me. My life is in your hands.”
As quick as a heartbeat, she disappeared through the curtain to be replaced by the smiling dressmaker.
“I apologize for keeping you waiting, but it is fixed now.” Mademoiselle Laurent held the gown up for inspection. “Nobody will ever know it was torn. Nobody must know.”
Tanner understood her meaning. Their meeting with Mrs. Seymour had never happened. It was a secret. A secret Lord Lofton would delight in using against them.
What had they gotten themselves into?
Chapter 18
The morning crawled by at an agonizingly slow pace.
Arabella attempted to entertain herself (as did Georgiana and Elizabeth) with all the occupations available to a lady waiting indoors, but the clock did not tick any faster despite their frequent glances at the hour.
Georgiana sighed as she fingered through the music she had already played.
Elizabeth closed her book. “At times like this, I miss roaming through the paths and fields around Pemberley. There is nothing like a long walk to calm one’s spirits and pass the time.”
“When this is over, I have decided to change my habit of going to the bookshop in the afternoon to the morning. This wait is simply unbearable.” Georgiana set her music aside and pivoted around on the pianoforte bench.
Arabella hated being the source of so much anxiety. She wished it had been her hem Mrs. Seymour had stepped on.
Mr. Darcy and Tanner appeared in the doorway. They had been out all morning.
Tanner had been avoiding her. She had not failed to see his reaction when Mrs. Seymour had practically declared on his behalf the previous afternoon. He had looked horrified. For the rest of the evening, whenever they had crossed paths, he had shied away from her like a second son avoiding a penniless lady. Hardly flattering, but not entirely hopeless.
Entering the music room, Mr. Darcy kissed Elizabeth’s forehead, then held her hand as he stood beside her. “I received word from my man. With Richard’s help, he was able to find Lieutenant Annesley’s closest friends. He will inform us of their stand regarding your husband’s death as soon as he speaks with them. He estimated a day, two if there are difficulties convincing them to cooperate.”
Arabella was not concerned. Nicholas’ friends had seen how badly he had been beaten and knew what she had sacrificed to care for him until the end. “Thank you for going to the trouble, Mr. Darcy,” Arabella said, feeling useless. She ought to be doing more, not sitting in the music room twiddling her thumbs while the gentlemen did all the work.
Mr. Darcy nodded, his eyes settling on Georgiana. “I will be relieved when this is resolved once and for all. I do not know whether this woman is to be trusted, and I resent her involvement of Georgiana in her scheme.”
“As do I.” Arabella bit her lips lest her tongue spill forth a list of all the wrongs she wished undone of late — all of them her fault. The Darcys, being the kind and generous family they were, would only reassure her of the security of her place in their household. They would act as the best of friends would, when she felt like every second she waited to act was a betrayal of their confidence.
She rested her hands against her knees to still them.
Tanner’s gaze fell heavily on her, and she wondered if he could read her thoughts. What would he do if he knew the contents of her mind? How her stomach had warmed at Mrs. Seymour’s comment? That had he not agreed to go to the bookshop, she would have found a way to go anyway?
She ought to be grateful for his protection, but she was restless. If he had a plan, he ought to confide it in her. What was his plan?
“This uncertainty is what concerns me the most. Until we know what awaits us at the bookshop, we do not know how to proceed,” he said.
Well, that answered that. He had no plan … yet. Would he allow her to help when he did? She ought to have protested when Georgiana had agreed so hastily to Mrs. Seymour’s deal, but the truth was that Georgiana had agreed before she could.
She must have sighed or groaned because everyone looked at her. “I am sorry. I am only anxious and restless. I feel I should be doing something, but I do not know what I can do that would not make matters worse. I worry for Mrs. Seymour. If she is trustworthy, her life is in danger because of what she is sharing with us. If she is not…” Arabella shivered, unable to voice her fear aloud.
“She understood clearly before she departed from our company that we would do nothing to endanger the lives or reputations of our family. Darcy has taken measures to protect her,” Tanner said, ignoring the smile Elizabeth shot him.
“He finally called us family,” Elizabeth whispered to Georgiana.
Arabella had noticed. Our family. Did he mean to include her in his remark? Did he love her?
“A slip of the tongue never to be repeated in society,” he grumbled.
He sure knows how to dash a lady’s expectations, Arabella thought.
“But that is how you think of us?” asked Georgiana, blinking her eyes in a manner she knew her brother could not resist. Would it work for Arabella if she batted her eyelashes at him? She discredited the idea almost as soon as she thought it. Tanner was not a man to be manipulated by anyone other than his baby sister. He would see right through Arabella, and she would feel foolish.
“Aye,” he admitted, shuffling his feet and looking down at his boots like a little boy who had just admitted to eating the last of the cake in the pantry and awaited the judgment of Cook. As frustrated as Arabella was at Tanner, his obvious embarrassment made her want to leap up and let him hide in her embrace until he forgot his discomfort.
Georgiana, Lord love her, leapt to her feet and, rising to her tip toes, planted a sisterly kiss on his cheek. “I love you too, Tanner.”
Tanner froze, and Arabella thought she would burst with the tangled ball of frustration, hope, and restlessness he provoked in her. His every feature showed how he adored his sister, so why was it so difficult for him to say as much?
Without a word, he leaned down to kiss the top of Georgiana’s head, covering over her hand with his own as he did so. His eyes drooped wistfully, and his chin bunched up, and Arabella wanted so badly to sooth his brow and tell him that she loved him until he believed her.
It struck her with a force that left her breathless to realize that Tanner was everything she had dreamed of — he was her loyal, steadfast, trustworthy prince. If she could win his heart, if she could be the woman he needed, they would make each other happy. She did not doubt it.
Crossing his arms, Tanner cleared his throat and glanced at the wall clock. “Is it time?” he asked Mr. Darcy.
“By the time the coach is brought around, it will be. I will send for it.”
So busy was Arabella’s mind enumerating all the ways she could right her mistakes and win Tanner’s love, she hardly remembered the carriage ride to The Temple of the Muses. Not until Tanner spoke was she able to concentrate on the task before them.
“Why do you come here? There are too many blasted people,” he asked Georgiana.
His ill humor was understandable. He did not like Georgiana’s necessary involvement in such an uncertain plan any more than Arabella did.
Georgiana attempted to lighten his mood, saying cheerfully, “I like to watch people. They are extremely diverting.”
“I do not like it one bit. We do not even know what to expect when we go inside. If someone is to give us a message, how will we be seen?” he complained.
“Brother, do try to smile. So far as anyone else is concerned, we are showing you the sights of London, and you are indulging me with a trip to one of my favorite places. Maybe we should go to Gunther’s for an ice when we are done.”
Now, that was pushing it too far. Arabella said, “It is not a bad idea, but perhaps, better reserved for ano
ther day.”
Tanner’s knees bumped against hers and he tried to move them to the side to afford her more space. Arabella stifled a smile at his attempt to make himself smaller when he quite clearly was not a man born for carriages. Or for weaving through crowds without causing a disturbance.
They eventually made it through the people gathered around the shop windows and into the popular bookshop. Several ladies milled about the large room, and before they could make their way to the circular desk manned by several gentlemen conversing with customers and sorting through stacks of books, a young man greeted them. He had fair hair and wore spectacles that made his eyes appear abnormally large.
“Miss Darcy, what an honor to receive you at The Temple of the Muses. I took the liberty of wrapping the volume we acquired for you.” Leaning forward, he said, “It was no easy feat, but I wholeheartedly hope it is everything you need it to be.”
He handed four packages to Tanner, adding, “The other novels you requested are here as well. Is there anything else with which I may assist you today?”
Georgiana replied, “Thank you. You thought of everything.” Turning to Tanner, she said, “I am so anxious to read these, I fear I will be poor company. Might we return another day?”
“I would never deny you the pleasure of a good story.” He thanked the book clerk, and they soon (although not soon enough to satisfy Arabella’s burning curiosity) found themselves seated again in the carriage.
Tanner ripped the paper off the first book.
Georgiana took it from him. “I have read this. It is a novel about betrayal and redemption.”
Appropriate, but unless Mrs. Seymour’s plan included hitting Lofton over the head with the large tome, it would do them little good.
Tanner stripped the paper off the second volume, and Arabella strained to read the title. “An account of an expedition across the New World. That is not it either.”