by Lucy Monroe
“As if that had anything to do with it. Miss Thea has a mind of her own, and that’s a fact. It’s no excuse for some blackguard to come along and try to do her harm.”
“I didn’t mean to imply that it was.”
Thea drew his attention with a long, drawn out sigh. “Listen, you two. Arguing about it isn’t going to solve anything. We need to find the culprit and quickly before he jumps ship and disappears altogether.”
Melly shivered. “It seems to me if the villain disappeared, we’d all sleep safer in our beds.”
“Not necessarily.” When he spoke, the maid’s gaze flew to his. She looked ready to argue. He didn’t give her the chance. “We have to assume the man attacked Thea on purpose. Until he’s caught, she won’t be safe.”
“But, no one would want to hurt Miss Thea! There’s no reason to believe the rogue wouldn’t have attacked any unattended lady he came across. There are wicked men in this world, Mr. Drake, that care nothing for a woman’s virtue.”
The look she gave him implied she just might consider him one of those wicked men. He glared at both her and Thea. “Your mistress is the one refusing to do the honorable thing, not me,” he felt compelled to say.
“Nonsense.” Thea bounded off the bed and stormed over to him. “Both my honor and yours are untarnished. I won’t have you implying otherwise to my maid.”
He met Thea’s gaze with a knowing look and she had the grace to blush. She turned away and paced to the other side of the stateroom. “Let us not get off subject. We are here to discuss apprehending the villain, not my unmarried state.”
“Actually, I’m here to see that you are dressed properly for dinner. We’re dining at the captain’s table tonight and I thought you’d want time to prepare yourself. All this stuff about an attacker is news to me.”
Thea gripped her hands together and seemed to be praying for patience. “Be that as it may, Melly, we are discussing the unfortunate incident on deck now, and I would appreciate your cooperation.”
“I wasn’t there,” Melly said looking confused, “I don’t know what I could add.”
“You were there the day we came aboard. Did you notice any of the people from home talking to the ship’s crew when they came aboard to see the steam engine?”
“You think someone from the island stole aboard the ship and attacked you?”
“Sacre bleau. Melly, just answer my question.”
“I don’t remember. Everything was in such a whirl with you wanting to sail so quick like.”
Thea nodded. She rubbed her temples. “Thank you. I’m sorry I got short with you. It’s been a trying time.”
“Do you need a headache powder, Miss Thea, or some of Mr. Drake’s ginger tea?”
Thea grimaced at the mention of the ginger tea. “No, thank you, Melly.”
Drake walked up behind Thea and placed his hands on her shoulders. “It’s going to be all right. I won’t let anyone hurt you, Thea.”
“Can you stop them from hurting Uncle Ashby?”
She whispered the comment, but he still heard. He hated the broken fear in her voice. Thea was not afraid for herself, but for the man she called uncle.
He turned her to face him, ignoring Melly’s sounds of protest about appropriate behavior when two people were not engaged. Locking his arms behind her back, he pulled her close. “Let me help you, Thea.”
She nuzzled into his neck and just held on for the longest time. Finally, she pulled back a little. “Yes. Please, help me, Drake. I don’t want Uncle Ashby hurt.”
Melly stood up and walked to the door, her face the color of boiled lobster. “It’s no good being a chaperone when your presence doesn’t hinder such familiar behavior.”
She went out shutting the door, loudly.
He swung Thea into his arms and carried her to the chair. It was safer than the bed. He sat down and settled her on his lap.
She sighed. “She’s disappointed in me.”
He knew she referred to her maid. “Does that bother you?”
“Yes. Melly has always been there and though she insists on referring to herself as a maid, she’s so much more.”
He understood. Thea had a tender heart toward those she loved and she loved the woman who had helped her mother raise her. “Why is she disappointed?”
“Because I won’t act like a proper lady and marry you.”
“Well, there is one way you can make her happy.”
She frowned. “I don’t think I can do that at the cost of my own happiness, not even for Melly.”
“Are you so sure I would make you unhappy?” The thought wounded him in a way that he didn’t even understand.
Her eyes filled with uncertainty. “No.”
That was a start.
“Tell me about Merewether.”
She bit her bottom lip.
“Everything.” He demanded when he realized she was in all probability trying to decide how much to say.
“Someone is pilfering from the shipping office in London. I can’t tell by the books if they are actually stealing cargo, or just money. I noticed the discrepancies and sent a letter to Uncle Ashby’s nephew asking about them. He oversees the offices in London.”
When Drake nodded his understanding, she went on.
“I never received an answer, but nevertheless went back through previous month’s accounts. Once I knew what I was looking for, it was not hard to find.”
“Is that why you are going to England?”
It certainly made sense. Thea was not the type of female to be tempted by a Season. She was the type to take charge and go searching for the thief on her own, however.
“Yes. You’ve got to understand, Drake. Uncle Ashby’s health cannot stand the cold climate of England or the voyage. He was in bed a month when he and Aunt Ruth returned from their last visit.”
“Why didn’t you hire Bow Street to investigate?”
“What if it’s his nephew? How will Uncle Ashby’s heart take the blow?”
Drake frowned. “He’s a man, Thea. His heart will survive the blow.”
“I don’t mean his feelings, I mean his heart. The doctors say it is weak. If he were to discover his nephew was stealing from us, he might have an apoplectic fit and die. He has quite a temper and it would hurt him, even though he is a man.”
“So, if it is the nephew, what are you going to do?”
“I don’t know. Make him resign from his position, I suppose, and hire someone more trustworthy.”
“Are you saying you aren’t going to tell Merewether about this at all?”
She stiffened in his arms. “Don’t make it sound like I’m betraying him. I’m trying to protect him, like he protected my mother and me when we came to the island.”
He couldn’t help admiring her loyalty while wanting to curse at her independence. “If it is the nephew, your letter alerted him to the danger and it looks like he’s decided to deal with matters by getting rid of you.”
“Yes, but I’m not sure it is Uncle’s nephew. Someone else could have read my letter. Someone else could be the thief.”
Not likely, but he didn’t see the need to argue the point. “You know what this means, don’t you?”
She nodded. “The thief is in league with someone from home. At first, I thought it could have been a sailor taken on board Whisky Jim’s latest voyage from England, but you didn’t pick up any more sailors in port, or passengers besides me. The man who tried to throw me overboard had to have been paid by someone.”
“The same person responsible for engineering the accident in the warehouse.”
“Exactly and when that didn’t work, they came aboard ship pretending an interest in your marvelous engine and hired that disreputable sailor to hurt me.”
“He tried to kill you.”
She didn’t deny it.
“That’s why you want to question him, isn’t it?”
“Yes, I need to protect Uncle Ashby from whoever is in association with the thief.”
“How are you going to do that without alerting Merewether to the existence of the thief?”
She fiddled with the top button on his shirt. In his haste to leave his room earlier, he had left off his cravat and now he could feel the delicate softness of her fingers against his throat. His body reacted instantly.
She looked up at him with a startled expression. “Really, Pierson, this is not the time to be thinking of such things.”
He smiled at the prissy words spoken in a breathless voice. “You’re right, but I have difficulty concentrating on anything else when you are around.”
She stilled her fingers and gazed into his eyes. “Really?”
“Yes.” How could she doubt it?
“That’s nice,” she said.
He bent his head and gently touched her lips with his own. She returned the pressure, allowing her arms to slide around his neck.
He pulled his lips away a fraction of an inch from her mouth. “You taste so good, I’m always hungry for more.”
“I would not wish to be accused of being stingy.” She kissed him this time, loving the feeling of freedom in doing so.
This is what she had missed after their time together in his room. The warmth. The intimacy. She felt safe in his arms as if thieves, their cohorts, even the specter of marriage, could not harm her.
He teased at her lips with his tongue and she opened her mouth. The kiss grew passionate and soon they were both breathing rapidly.
He pulled away and pressed his forehead against hers. “We have to stop, Thea, or Melly will walk in on a much more compromising scene then she did earlier.”
She knew he was right, but that did not make it any easier to acquiesce.
She sighed. “Very well.”
He lifted her from his lap and set her on the bed before taking a seat on the chair once again. “Finish telling me about your thief.”
“There is nothing more to tell.”
“What do you plan to do when we reach London?”
She should question his assumption about accompanying her to London from Liverpool, but knew it would be no use. She had made her decision when she told him about the thief. She had his help now, whether she wanted it or not. However, it would be foolish to pretend she didn’t want it, when she so desperately did.
“First I must make myself known to Lady Upworth.”
“Your friend that has been writing you?”
“Yes.”
“She’s a crony of my aunt’s. What are you going to do after that?”
For some reason knowing that Drake had a connection to Lady Upworth made Thea feel better. “I’m going to begin my investigation at the shipping office.”
He frowned. “How?”
She chewed on her lower lip. “I had thought to simply make myself known, express my concerns and enlist the help of Uncle Ashby’s nephew. Now, I’m not so certain.”
“Bloody hell. You could be walking into a nest of vipers.”
Rather than annoying her, his anger made her feel safe. It felt good to rely on someone. She had not done so since her mother’s death. “You are right, but I do not know a better way to approach it.”
“I have an idea.”
Her heart leapt with hope. “Yes?”
“I will pretend an interest in a partnership with Merewether Shipping. You will need to show me the books and we will conduct the investigation together.”
CHAPTER TEN
Thea is growing so quickly, I barely recognize her anymore. She runs everywhere and her diction is marvelous for a child still in leading strings. Are all mothers so very proud of their young? Perhaps Langley has done for me one small service. In stealing my son, he has given me appreciation for my daughter. She is my own precious joy and I will be worthy of her.
March 24, 1800 Journal of Anna Selwyn, Countess of Langley
“What about the letter? Someone in the London office already knows I’ve discovered discrepancies in the ledgers.”
He had seen the look of hope leap into her eyes. She wanted to rely on him.
He would show her that she could trust him. “We will allay their concerns by pretending to think the other discrepancies were anomalies.”
“Won’t the thief feel threatened that we are going through the books now and do something to try and stop us? He has already proved himself quite ruthless.”
“I hope so.”
Understanding dawned in her expression. “We are laying a trap and hoping the thief will try again.” Her eyes dimmed. “Isn’t that rather dangerous for you?”
“No more so than for you.”
“But, it is my problem.”
“Now it is mine. You belong to me, Thea, even if you are too stubborn to admit it. That makes your problems mine.” He waited for her to deny his words with her customary independent stubbornness, but her worried look only intensified.
“I don’t want you to feel responsible for me.”
“You have no choice.” Did she think he could walk away from her now that he knew she was in danger?
“What if you are hurt?” she asked as if that was all that concerned her.
“I know how to take care of myself.” He wanted to touch her and wipe the anxious expression from her face, but knew that he couldn’t risk the close contact. Once he started touching her again, he wouldn’t stop until he was buried inside her. “There is one matter we will have to attend to, however.”
“Yes?”
“Where you will live.”
“I’m staying with Lady Upworth. She’s invited me numerous times. She will not mind me arriving unexpectedly.” Thea sighed. “I think.”
“Perhaps not, but she would definitely mind me moving in. She’s set in her ways, just like my aunt.”
“What do you mean, you moving in?”
“I’m staying by your side until the thief has been dealt with. He has proven himself too willing to harm you.”
“I will be perfectly safe with Lady Upworth.” And she sounded like she truly believed it.
“No.”
She bristled, drawing herself erect, her heart shaped face set in irritated lines. “I will accept your help, but you can forget dictating to me in this fashion.”
“You like my aunt,” he reminded her.
She eyed him warily. “Yes.”
“She won’t mind me staying as well,” he explained.
She chewed on her bottom lip. “Won’t the rest of the ton find it odd that I’m staying with your aunt?”
He shrugged. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Yes, it does. I’m not going to have you blaming me for damaging your reputation.”
The accusation was so ludicrous, he laughed.
She glared at him. “Do not laugh at me, sir. I have every reason to be concerned. You believed that after making love you were honor bound to propose and got angry when I said no. I won’t have you saying that I misled you in this matter as well.”
She was serious.
“I did not propose because of my honor.”
“I heard your aunt, Drake. She believes your honor is at stake if you don’t marry me just because you visited my room. I had not thought ahead when I seduced you. I did not realize that you would feel compelled to marry me afterward. I should have, but I was overcome with emotion.” She looked away from him. “I’m not usually like that, emotional I mean.”
He didn’t believe it for a minute. Everything she did was motivated by emotion and a fierce sense of loyalty that matched his own. Unable withstand it any longer, he stood and went to her.
Cupping her shoulders, he forced her to meet his gaze. “I did not propose out of a sense of honor. I had already decided to marry you before we ever made love.”
She stared at him, disbelief etched in every feature her blue eyes filled with it.
He squeezed her shoulders. “I mean it, Thea.”
“Why?”
The stark word hung between them and he was unsure how to answer. The why of
it was something he had not considered. It had simply become inevitable and he had accepted it as such.
“You will make me an admirable wife.”
Her soft pink lips twisted with derision. “Admirable? I can not imagine how.” Then her eyes widened and she looked at him with dawning wonder. “Are you saying that you love me?”
He released her shoulders and stepped back so quickly, he almost lost his balance.
Love? He had seen so-called love matches turn into screaming matches after the newness wore off. His father had promised undying love to his mother before getting her with child and abandoning her. Cicebos and rakes vowed their love for other men’s wives. The ton was full of posturing dandies who spouted poetry about love while flitting from one lady to the next, their feelings as temporary as the beauty of the flowers they sent along with their vows of undying affection.
The only experience he had ever had with the emotion had been with Deirdre. She said she loved him, but married someone more suitable and rich. He thought he had loved her, but had finally admitted that his pride was more bruised than his heart.
Did he love Thea?
He didn’t know. He needed her and in his mind that was bad enough.
When Drake didn’t answer, Thea assumed she had made him uneasy with the question. Of course he didn’t love her. She was a twenty-three year old spinster, too vocal in her opinions and unremarkable in appearance, for all that others said she looked exceedingly like her mother.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.” He opened his mouth to speak, but she forestalled him by raising her hand. “It is better that you don’t. Love me, that is.”
“Why?” He looked perplexed, his dark brown eyes narrowed.
“Because I cannot marry you.”
“Yes you can. What is more, you will.” He looked so certain of himself she wanted to scream.
“How many times must I tell you? I will not marry. Besides, I would make you a terrible wife. Surely, you must realize that.”
“I know no such thing. You are all I could desire in a wife.” She wanted to argue, but he went on seemingly determined to convince her. “First, there is the passion between us. I have no wish to wed a woman who will shut me from her room once she has given me the required heir and a spare.”