by Lee, Jade
“And now that you’re back in society?” Caleb prompted. “What are your plans?”
The conversation had just come full circle, and he still had no real answer. “Your jobs at the Lyon’s Den are safe if you still want them. I’ll see to that.” Then he pulled out a chair at the central table, sitting down as he looked at the one man who’d been at his side all his adult life. “You can be the new Titan at the Lyon’s Den if you like.” Being the man in charge of all the security at the den had been Lucas’s job, but Caleb was more than capable.
“I’d like that, except it seems to me you have something else in mind.”
Lucas shrugged. “I might.” He looked up at his friend. “Don’t know if it’ll make money yet, but I’d be happy to talk over some thoughts with you. If you felt like talking while we’re watching the house.”
Caleb looked about the kitchen. “I’m sick of sitting indoors. Let’s go walk the perimeter again.”
“I was just out there for an hour.”
“Two weeks as a peer, and you’re already complaining about a little walk.”
It was several miles of walking that he’d already done twice tonight while he was thinking about Diana. But he wasn’t going to let anyone suggest he’d gone soft, even in jest, so he pushed to his feet. “You wake Egeus and tell him we’re walking. He’s got watch of the house.”
Caleb nodded. “Yes, sir!”
“I’ll just be a moment,” he said, purposely hiding where he was going. It didn’t work. Caleb knew him too well.
“She’s sleeping, and about time. I’ve never seen a society woman work as hard as her. She’s doing a man’s job here. Ireland could use more like her.”
“She’s good at it.”
“Yes, sir, she is. Better than anyone else for generations, according to the people here.”
He nodded, waiting for the rest. With Caleb, there was always a little more. “What are you getting at?”
“That I can’t really blame her for wanting to keep hold of doing what she’s good at. I hear she’ll lose it if she marries. That true?”
Lucas blew out a breath. “Yes.” Then he looked straight back at his friend. “But do you think she’ll trade working like this for being a mother? She’s not one to have bastards, and she can’t keep this if she wants to have children of her own.”
Caleb acknowledged that with a grunt. “Seems to me a smart man would find a way that she can have both.”
“Seems to me,” Lucas countered, “that I’ve got plenty to think about what with managing jobs for my men, protecting the lady from her murderous stepson, and finding my way back into being Lord Chellam.”
“That does sound like a lot. Well, mayhap you can find someone who’d be willing to help you out with some of those tasks.”
“And maybe that someone ought to go wake Egeus so we can talk about it.”
“Yes, sir!” he said, saluting with a quick flick of his wrist.
Lucas watched him go, his thoughts turning toward the future with renewed hope. He might not have his lady love yet, but he had his comrades in arms, and for the moment, that would be enough. Or so he thought until he slipped quietly into Diana’s room to see that all was safe there. She was asleep, her breath steady as she lay curled on her side. He looked at her face, saw her body outlined by the moonlight, and wanted desperately to climb in beside her.
He didn’t, though he did touch her cheek. What would he give up to be with her? Everything. But would she do the same?
He didn’t think so, and that saddened him enough that he left her side to talk about his future with someone else.
Chapter Twenty-Four
London, three weeks later…
They stayed two more weeks in Ireland. Long enough for him to see ever more clearly how good Diana was at management and how desperately her tenants needed her expert guidance. It was disheartening because he knew how much they would suffer under Geoffrey’s negligent care.
He never graced her bed, though she caught him looking at her often enough. She made it very clear that she would welcome his advances, but he had sworn not to dally with her, and so he kept away. But that didn’t stop him from becoming obsessed with her safety. There were no attacks, nothing untoward, and even the travel back to England was completely uneventful. Was that because he did everything he could think of to foil an attack? He had them travel under different names and pretend her maid and cook were her sisters. All three returning from a holiday in Ireland. Perhaps he was overreacting, but he counted the uneventful travel worth all his hard work.
And then the day they arrived back in London, he learned how useful his planning had been. An hour later, Lord Beddoe sent a request to see him. Not Diana, but Mr. Lucifer, along with the hope of discretion.
He agreed, of course, and met the man in the downstairs office that had once been Diana’s but was now his. It suited his work with the staff to be down here, and she had acceded to the wisdom of keeping her work abovestairs. Lord Beddoe, however, curled his lip as he sat in the tiny chair, but he was too agitated to refuse.
“We were attacked,” said the older man.
Lucas’s brows shot up, and he leaned over to shut the door. It wouldn’t give them total privacy, but it would help. “Where and when?”
“On the ride back to London. Coarse men. Terrified us all.” Beddoe lifted his chin. “Shot and killed my coachman, and for that, I will never forgive Geoffrey.”
“Geoffrey?” Lucas’s mind had gone there immediately, but he was surprised to see Beddoe so ready to accuse his brother-in-law. Up until now, Lucas had thought the man inclined to be tolerant of Geoffrey’s tendencies. Now he spoke as if he wanted the man strung up. “Why do you think it was him?”
“I didn’t. Not at first. These things happen, though never before to me.”
“Tell me what happened exactly.”
“I heard shots. Woke me out of a sound sleep, I tell you.” He spoke brusquely, but his hands were trembling enough that Lucas didn’t bother offering him tea. He poured a strong measure of brandy for the man who drank it down with unseemly haste. “The horses pulled to a stop, and the carriage door opened. Penelope screamed, of course, and a gun was forced in our faces, and the man asked for her.” He looked up at Lucas. “He asked for her.”
“Your wife?”
“No. He asked if she was Lady Dunnamore.”
“I told him who we were and that I’d see him hang, the bastard.” He paused a moment to finish off his brandy.
“And then?” Lucas prompted when he didn’t start speaking again.
“Then he searched everyone and asked again, where is she?”
“She being Diana?”
“Yes. I told him, still in Ireland. I didn’t tell him in a friendly way, you understand. So he hit me.” He rubbed his chin. Lucas didn’t see a bruise there, but it had been over two weeks. Any mark could have healed by now.
“Did he hurt your wife? Your servants?”
“Other than killing my coachman? No. Took the jewelry and my coins. Fortunately, Penelope wasn’t traveling with anything of much value. She didn’t trust the Irish not to steal it,” he said, and it was clear that he recognized the irony of fearing the Irish when they were robbed on an English highway.
“And then what happened?”
“Happened? Nothing. They took our valuables and left with my coachman lying in a ditch.” He shuddered. “I had to tell his wife.”
“I’m sorry.” He would not wish that task on anyone.
Beddoe nodded, but his gaze was far away. “I didn’t want to believe it. Not of my wife’s brother, but they were looking for Diana. They thought Penelope was her at first and were about to drag her away to do God knows what.” He shook his head. “They must have known that we meant to take Diana home with us. Penelope offered it to her, you see. Said she should visit with us for a bit. To show that there are no hard feelings between them.”
But there were hard feelings, and Diana had wanted
to stay and take care of matters in Ireland.
“I went over this with Penelope, just to be sure. There’s no mistake. She told Geoffrey her plans. Told him that she would insist that Diana join us because it was proper. A woman can’t stay alone in Ireland. That just invites gossip.”
“But Diana refused her.”
“Surprised us both, I can tell you, but thank Heaven she did. Because what those men might have done to her, I don’t know.”
“They would have killed her. Possibly after doing worse.” He needed Beddoe to understand Geoffrey’s depravity. Fortunately, the man looked like he already knew.
“They asked for Diana. Asked after her again and again. They weren’t there for us. The robbery was an afterthought. We were an afterthought!” There was true outrage in that last part, but to his credit, Beddoe was focused on the real issue. “No one has reason to target Diana except Geoffrey. Penelope didn’t want to think it either, but we’ve been over it many times. There’s no one else who hates her. No one.”
Lucas let the words hang there. He believed everything, but even so, he needed more details, more ways to trace the attack back to Geoffrey in a way that would hold up before a magistrate. And though his blood burned with the need to kill the man, he had promised Diana that he would try to find another way.
So, he kept Beddoe with him for another two hours. They went through more brandy—enough to keep the man steady—and in the end, Lucas had all the details Beddoe could remember.
“Penelope’s terrified. Cries in her sleep and hates it when I leave the house.”
“Does she think the highwaymen will come back?”
Beddoe nodded. “She thinks Geoffrey knows that she’s turned against him. He’s a monster, and she’s afraid of her own brother. I keep telling her it’s Diana who needs protection—and she agrees—but she’s frightened, and I can’t say as I blame her.”
“Any attack is terrifying. She will calm down in time.”
“I hope so, but I wondered…” Beddoe toyed with his empty brandy glass. “You’ve got men here protecting Diana, and I approve. But do you have a few more? Some who might stand guard over us?”
Lucas’s brows rose up in surprise. “You have servants, yes? Large footmen—”
“But they’re not military men like you. Like the footmen you’ve added here. Do you know of a few more who would like to earn money? Just until this business with Geoffrey is settled once and for all.”
“I do. But this business may take a while. And good men don’t come cheap.”
Beddoe nodded. “I’m well-heeled enough to afford it. And it would give me an extra measure of rest. Penelope’s increasing, you see. It’s not good for the baby for her to be anxious like this. We want to go back to my estate in Staffordshire, but I won’t risk another ride. Not without extra men who know what they’re about.”
“I know just the men you want,” he said. “He’s been with me through the war, and there’s not a steadier hand in all of England.”
“But will he be loyal? Will he protect Penelope, even if Geoffrey promises him more than I can pay?”
And right there was the problem for Beddoe. Any man he might hire would be vulnerable to bribery from another source. Lucas smiled. “Caleb will not betray you. I’d stake my life on it.”
“Then, we’ll leave for Staffordshire as soon as it can be arranged.”
“I’ll get Caleb started on the details. Don’t worry. You and Lady Beddoe will be safe.”
Beddoe stood, then abruptly held out his hand to shake. “I didn’t trust you at first. Who goes by the name Mr. Lucifer? But now that I know you’re Chellam, I’ve got better respect for you. Elliott swears you’re the best, and you’ve done well by Diana. If you do well by Penelope and me, then I know a few others who might need a steady hand with a gun now and again.”
Lucas shook Beddoe’s hand with a firm grip. “You’ll be safe with us,” he said firmly. “Lucifer’s men won’t betray you.” And just like that, he and Caleb had a new business venture.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Exhaustion dogged Diana even as she sat in the upstairs parlor and drank tea. She never understood how sitting in a carriage for hours could be so tiring, but it was. Or maybe it was her thoughts that had worn her down. She could not stop thinking about her argument with Lucas. It had happened three weeks ago back when they were still in Ireland, and still, she wondered if she’d erred.
It wasn’t wrong for her to want to be independent. There were sound financial reasons for her to stay free of a man’s control. For her entire life, others had the final say over her decisions, but no longer. And yet, independence came with loneliness.
Since the night Lucas had touched her so intimately, he had kept himself scrupulously apart from her. They spoke as needed, but he remained well out of arm’s reach no matter how she tried to entice him. She hadn’t been blatant, but they’d had several very frustrating conversations in her bedroom. She’d worn her thinnest dressing gown and even once had appeared to him only in her nightrail.
Nothing.
Certainly, his eyes had raked her from top to bottom. His gaze had narrowed, and she thought he would break when her hair tumbled down out of her pins. He didn’t. He watched her intently throughout the day, his expression dark and hungry. But he never acted on it, and she was not brazen enough to demand he touch her. She doubted it would work anyway. The man was as immovable as a mountain when he wanted to be.
They stayed apart while she questioned her decision to remain a wealthy widow. And now, after weeks of frustration, she was ready to do something brazen, but it couldn’t be tonight. This evening she was fully dressed, and she’d called Lucas to her parlor for an entirely different reason.
She had just poured herself another cup of tea when he knocked on the door. She motioned him inside and then failed to hide her grimace when he kept himself on the opposite side of the room from her.
“Oh, leave off,” she snapped. “Just sit down, take some tea, and answer my question. Please.”
His eyes widened in surprise, but he was gentlemanly enough to sketch a bow to her before taking the chair opposite her. “Are you feeling well?” he asked as he scanned her face.
“Tired and restless, which is an annoying contradiction.”
“I understand the feeling, well.”
She looked at him, seeing that exhaustion hung on him, too. Whereas she had spent today’s travel dozing in a carriage, he had ridden ahead and was likely sore from top to bottom. “I’m sorry, Lucas. I have only a single question, and then you may seek your bed.”
He nodded and didn’t respond, which she took to mean that he would head for rest when he deemed it safe. Damn him for being the one man in her household she couldn’t order to bed for his own good.
“Fine. Keep your own counsel. I just want to know…” She looked up at him, needing to judge his reaction. “Did Geoffrey attack Penelope and Walter? Are they all right?”
He nodded, his expression grave. “Lord and Lady Beddoe were attacked on their way back from Ireland. The thieves killed their coachman and robbed them. But Diana, they were expressly looking for you.”
She swallowed. “For me.” It wasn’t a question. She had heard as much from her maid, who had learned it from the cook, who had been listening at the door when Walter was belowstairs speaking with Lucas. And yet it was still a blow to hear it confirmed. “Was it Geoffrey?”
“I believe so,” Lucas said. “He’s not one to commit crimes himself. He hires someone else to do it for him.”
“Which is why it was done badly, I suppose. If he’d thought for two seconds, he would have known I will never travel with Penelope.”
“Really? Why not?”
“The motion of the carriage bothers her, and she complains constantly. Besides, you already know there was too much work in Ireland for me to leave.”
“Geoffrey is not one to understand work.”
No, he wasn’t. “What am I to do?�
� she whispered. “I cannot live my life in a cage for fear he hires assassins. And where is he finding the money for these highwaymen? Isn’t he in debt all over London?”
Lucas shrugged. “Desperate men find each other.” He took a breath. “Do you regret the restrictions you have placed upon me?”
She met his eyes. “I still do not want you to kill him,” she said firmly. “Not for him, but for you. I would not add that burden to your soul.”
His expression softened. “My soul can bear it.”
“Even so. We are a civilized society. He should be tried and sentenced, as is lawful.”
He was silent a moment. “You know that if I must, I will—”
She held up her hand. “I know you will do what is required,” she said, struggling with her own thoughts. “But this is a not battlefield, and we are in England, which is a country of laws.” She could see from his expression that he agreed in principle but that he would act as a soldier if he had no choice.
She should not be comforted by that. She was a woman who stood by her convictions. And yet, she remained desperately grateful that, thanks to Lucas, she would not die for her principles. She blew out a breath. “I am a hypocrite. I don’t want you to kill him, and yet…” She lifted her gaze to the ceiling. “He set highwaymen on Penelope. Did you know she is pregnant? Who would hire thieves to rob his own sister?”
He was silent as she dashed away tears.
“This is ridiculous,” she said. “Geoffrey was a sweet boy once. By all accounts, his mother loved him. Oscar certainly did. He had good nannies and all the benefits of wealth. Why has he turned so wrong?”
Lucas touched her hand, where she fidgeted with her teacup. His fingers were thick with calluses and yet brushed so lightly across her own. “I don’t have any answers, Diana. I cannot take the time to wonder how he became who he is. I can only end this as quickly as I know how.”