Candace Camp (15 page)

He looked at her, surprised; then his face cleared, and he said hastily, “No—I did not mean…bloody hell…I am making a regular hash of things. What I am saying is, I think you are in danger. I am offering you my help.”

“You, too?” Eleanor murmured.

“What do you mean?” He scowled.

“Dario was preaching the same gospel to me all the way home,” Eleanor said. Why was it that men were much more interested in a woman if they thought she needed protection? “I will tell you, as I told him, I am not a fragile flower in need of protection. I am well able to take care of myself.”

“Don’t be stubborn,” Anthony shot back.

Eleanor stiffened, crossing her arms in front of her and arching an eyebrow. “I am not stubborn. I am simply not being hysterical. No harm has been offered me. And whatever the fellow was after, I would think that he has already gotten it by taking the locket, or he has realized that I do not have it and he has given up.”

“You cannot be sure,” he argued.

“I have taken the necessary precautions,” she assured him. “We have set up a guard at night. And I am keeping a pistol on my bedside table.”

He grimaced. “I should not be surprised.”

“No, you should not,” she agreed. “I am accustomed to thinking and doing for myself.”

“It is only sensible to accept help.”

“Help generally comes with conditions attached, I have found…especially from men.”

“I have no conditions,” he grated out. “Blast it, woman, why won’t you let me help you?”

“I think what you mean is, why won’t I do as you say,” Eleanor corrected.

He gazed at her for a long moment, then exclaimed, “Oh, the devil with it!” He turned and started to walk away, then stopped and looked back at her. He opened his mouth, then closed it, and finally said in a clipped tone, “Good day, my lady.”

“Good day.” Eleanor watched Anthony go, not sure whether to be more annoyed or amused.

He was not accustomed to not getting his way. That was clear. But then, she was just as unaccustomed to giving in to anyone. She ran her life as she pleased, and she was not about to start doing any differently now, no matter how easy it was to get lost in Anthony’s gray eyes.

The rest of the day passed uneventfully, as did the one that followed it, enlivened only by a visit from Dario, who again pressed his invitation to return with him to Italy.

Eleanor politely refused, adding, “Are you planning to leave soon, then?”

Looking almost as irritated as Lord Neale had the day before, Dario replied darkly, “No. I cannot leave you like this. I will stay and see this thing through.”

It was Eleanor’s opinion that he was in for a long, boring wait, as once again that night there was no sign of any intruder. She was more and more certain that she was right in thinking that the thief had either found what he was looking for or realized that whatever he was searching for was not in her house.

The children went to fly kites in the park with Kerani the next afternoon, and Eleanor decided to go along. She had found the last few days that she seemed to have more difficulty than normal concentrating on business matters. Her mind kept going to the fact that Lord Neale had not called upon her again since his offer of an apology the day before yesterday. She wondered if she had offended him so by her refusal of his offer of protection that he had decided not to call upon her anymore.

Claire and Nathan ranged ahead of Eleanor and Kerani as they strolled along a path through the trees, heading toward a larger open area where they could fly their kites. Claire’s dark brown curls were warmed by the sunlight, and her face was animated as she chattered to Nathan.

Eleanor smiled as she watched her. She had found Claire two years earlier, begging on the streets of Paris, a thin little waif with eyes that were much too large in her hungry face. She had been set to begging on the streets by her uncle—her mother, a prostitute, had died two years earlier. Eleanor, touched by her plight, had taken her away from her uncle—his protests had been quickly stilled by the payment of fifty gold guineas she had offered. Claire had been quiet almost to the point of silence at first, shy and restrained, but it had not been long before she warmed up to Nathan, despite the difference in language. Over the last year, her true personality had begun to shine through.

Nathan, of course, Eleanor reflected with a smile, had never been anything but loquacious. It had been his talkativeness and his quick sense of humor that had brought him to Eleanor’s attention in the first place. He had worked with his mother in a factory Eleanor had once visited in New England. She had been considering buying into the business but instead had come away with a healthy dislike of the owner. However, during her tour, she had been drawn to the boy, disturbed to see a child of that age working in such a place. His quick answers had amused her, despite the sadness she felt as she looked at the mother and child, both far too thin, their fingers red and chilled as they worked at their jobs. The mother had paused now and then to cough, trying to hide it as best she could.

Eleanor had learned their address and taken them a basket of food, as well as the services of a physician. The doctor had confirmed Eleanor’s suspicions about the mother’s health. She was in the grip of pneumonia and not long for this world. Nathan’s mother had taken Eleanor’s hand in a viselike grip and pleaded with her to take care of her son. Eleanor had been reluctant, never having been around children much, and certainly not having anticipated taking one on, but she had been unable to resist the mother’s pleas. She had made his mother as comfortable as possible, paying for coal to heat their rooms and providing them with blankets, food and medicine, but it was too late for her. And when she died a week later, Eleanor had taken Nathan into her house. She had never regretted it.

Nathan, almost ten years old, had been with her for four years now, and Eleanor was sure that she could not have loved him more if he had been her own son. Claire had crept into her heart in the same way.

They reached a large grassy area, and the children stopped. Nathan put down his kite and went to help Claire with hers. Eleanor walked toward them to help.

Suddenly a man moved quickly past Eleanor and straight toward the children. Eleanor watched, astonished, as the man bent and wrapped an arm around Claire’s waist, picked her up and started to run away with her.

E
LEANOR LET OUT
a wordless shriek and ran forward, afraid that she would not be able to catch up with the man. Fortunately Nathan, who was much closer, was quick to react, and he threw himself at the ruffian, managing to grab the tails of his coat. Nathan clung to him, screaming, and the man had to stop to reach around and try to pull the tenacious child off him. Claire was squirming and kicking, screeching at the top of her lungs.

As the stranger struggled with the two children, Eleanor reached him. Raising her parasol, she brought it down as hard as she could on the man’s head. He let out a bellow of pain and frustration, letting go of Nathan and raising his free hand to protect himself from Eleanor’s blows. Nathan dropped down, wrapping his arms around the man’s leg and hanging on. Then he sank his teeth into the man’s calf.

The man squealed and dropped Claire as he reached down and pried Nathan off his leg. He looked up, saw a man running across the park toward them, yelling, and he quickly took off.

Eleanor knelt and took Claire into her arms, and the little girl wrapped herself around Eleanor as if she would never let go. “Are you all right? Oh, sweetheart, I was so scared! Nathan, you were superb.”

“Are you all right?” the man who had come running to their rescue asked and when Eleanor nodded, he took off after their attacker, who was charging into the trees.

Eleanor watched him, and soon both men were gone from sight. She did not have much hope of the second man catching their assailant, who had gotten too much of a head start.

Nathan popped up, grinning. “I stopped him, didn’t I?”

“You did indeed. I am so proud of you. And you, too, Claire. You were my little tigress.” Eleanor hugged the girl even more tightly to her.

Kerani fluttered around them, babbling in a broken combination of English and her native tongue, and emitting little cries of distress, hugging Nathan, patting Claire’s back, and brushing at the grass and twigs that had attached themselves to the bottom of Eleanor’s skirts.

“Who was that man, Miss Elly?” Nathan asked. He was jiggling from foot to foot, unable to stand still. “Why’d he try to take Claire?”

“I don’t know. But thank heavens he was not able to. Nathan, pick up your kites and let us go home.”

Nathan did as she bade, and the four of them walked home in a tight little group. Eleanor carried Claire almost half the way before the girl decided she was no longer afraid to let go of Eleanor’s neck. But even then, she walked with one hand in Eleanor’s and the other in Kerani’s.

Eleanor’s mind was racing as they walked. While she had no idea who the man had been who had tried to steal Claire, she had a pretty good idea as to why he had done it. She was sure that it was not some random act; the man had plainly targeted Claire. But it was Eleanor herself, she was sure, who was the ultimate target. And it had to do with the thing in her house that someone wanted and obviously had not yet found.

She was scared, more scared than she could ever remember being. This had been far worse than waking up to find the stranger in her room, for this was a threat to her loved ones. Eleanor had always been ready to stand and face danger. But the prospect of danger to either of the children filled her with terror.

When they reached the house, Eleanor went straight up to the nursery with Kerani and the children, where she checked the windows to make sure all were tightly closed and locked. Leaving Kerani with Claire and Nathan, she went downstairs and sent for Bartwell and Zachary.

Her terse explanation of what had happened in the park brought consternation to both men’s features.

“Miss Elly!” Bartwell exclaimed. “What is going on?”

“I have no idea. But clearly I am going to have to do something about it. I want a footman outside the nursery door at all times.”

“It’s done,” he assured her gravely. “And I’ll put two footmen on patrol at night. We may have to hire extra help.”

Eleanor nodded. “Whatever is necessary.”

“I am going up there myself,” Zachary said tightly. “I will stay with them.”

“Good.” Eleanor nodded. “Bartwell, have the carriage brought round.”

He looked at her, startled. “Where are you going, miss?”

“For help,” Eleanor replied succinctly.

T
HE FOOTMAN
at Lord Neale’s door looked startled to see an unattended female standing there, seeking entrance. Eleanor suspected that his first instinct was to turn her away, but the haughty glance he sent her took in the quality of her clothes, and he hesitated, visibly torn.

“Tell Lord Neale that Lady Scarbrough is here,” Eleanor said briskly, stepping forward so that the footman was forced to step back and allow her into the hall. “Lady Eleanor Scarbrough.”

“Never mind, Burke, I will take care of this,” Anthony said from the landing of the stairs. He came the rest of the way down the stairs, saying, “I was looking out the window and saw you step out of your carriage.”

When he reached her, his eyes ran over her quickly, and he frowned, reaching out to take her hand. “Eleanor…what is it? You look…distressed.”

He led her into the front drawing room and closed the door behind them, then turned to face her. “Now, tell me, what is the matter?”

“You must think me mad,” she began, feeling suddenly shaky and on the verge of tears in the face of his concern. “I—I came without putting on my hat and gloves. I just ran out of the house.”

“I see that.” He came closer. “What happened?”

“I—someone tried to take Claire!” Eleanor blurted out.

“The little girl who lives with you?” he asked, startled.

She nodded. The terror that she had been trying to keep tamped down was rising in her, threatening to overcome her. “Oh, Anthony…you offered me your help the other day and I turned you down. I am here now asking for it. Will you help me?”

“Of course.” Impulsively, he reached out and pulled her into his arms.

Eleanor, surprising even herself, leaned against him gratefully, tears welling in her eyes and spilling out. “I am so frightened!”

“Of course you are,” he told her, his hand gently rubbing her back. He leaned his cheek against the top of her head. “Do not worry. We shall take care of it. I promise. Nothing will happen to the children.”

A shaky little sob escaped Eleanor, and she clung to him. It felt so good to be able to be weak for once. She had always been the strong one, the one on whom everyone else relied, the one to whom they came for help. She would have said that she hated to appear weak, that she would have done anything to avoid it, but she found that here in Anthony’s arms, it was a great relief, for once, to have someone else upon whom she could rely.

He wrapped his arms around her, cradling her to him. She felt the brush of his lips against her hair. “Eleanor,” he murmured.

She trembled. She wanted to stay in his arms forever, she thought. She wanted to turn up her face to his and feel his lips upon hers again. She wanted to melt into him and let whatever would happen, happen.

Sternly, she straightened and pulled away. This was not the time for such weakness. She should be thinking only of the children, not herself. She wiped the tears from her cheeks and turned to face him.

“We went to Hyde Park. We were going to fly kites.”

Anthony sighed inwardly. He missed the feel of her in his arms. He would have liked to pull her back and hold her again. But clearly Eleanor’s moment of weakness had passed.

He crossed his arms and said matter-of-factly, “Who is ‘we’?”

“The children’s
amah,
Kerani, and myself. And the children, of course—Claire and Nathan. Kerani and I were a few feet behind them. Suddenly a man rushed up and grabbed Claire. He started to run off with her, but Nathan had the presence of mind to latch onto him long enough that I was able to reach him.”

“And what did you do?” The beginnings of a smile quirked at the corner of Anthony’s mouth.

“I hit him, of course. Fortunately I was carrying my parasol. And then Nathan bit him.”

The twitch had turned into a full grin now. “Naturally. So I take it that you vanquished the fellow?”

Eleanor nodded. “Yes, he dropped Claire and ran off. There was a man there who came to help us, and he ran after him. But I think there was little hope of catching him. I took the children straight home. But I’m frightened.”

“You have every reason to be scared. But we will get to the bottom of this. Don’t worry.” He paused, then went on. “Did you get a good look at your attacker?”

Eleanor shrugged. “It happened so fast…. It was no one I knew. He was about medium height, not burly, but not slender, either. He was dressed roughly, like a workman, and he wore a cap. I could not see his hair.”

“Was he dark? Pale?”

“He was not dark-skinned. He had a large nose. I could not see the color of his eyes. They were shadowed by the brim of his cap.” She shrugged. “I’m sorry. I am afraid I am not very useful.”

“I feel sure he did his best not to reveal much of himself,” Anthony assured her.

There was a tap on the door, and Anthony turned to open it, saying, “Hopefully this is Rowlands.”

He pulled the door open to reveal a young man, rather tired and sweaty. The man pulled his hat from his head, bowing a little toward Eleanor and saying, “Ma’am.”

It was the man who had gone after their attacker.

Eleanor stared. “How did you—” She swung to face Anthony. “What is going on?”

“This is Rowlands. He does a bit of work for me sometimes. I set him to watching your house when you would not let me help you.”

Eleanor bristled. “But that’s—that’s—”

“It was all I could do to protect you,” Anthony pointed out.

“I’m sorry, sir,” Rowlands put in apologetically. “I lagged too far behind in the park. I was afraid they would spot me, so I didn’t want to stay close.”

“Were you able to follow him?” Anthony asked.

The young man shook his head regretfully. “I chased him out of the park. Then he jumped on the back of a milk wagon, and I managed to catch a hansom to follow him. But then he got off, and I did, too, and I think he spotted me. He lost me in the East End. I spent some time asking around about him. Seeing if anyone knew him.”

“So you got a good look at him?”

“Fairly good. But it wasn’t much use, sir. One chap told me it might be a fellow called Smiley, on account of he has a scar, here by his mouth, makes it look like he’s grinning. Another one said it might be a fellow named Farnston, lives next door to him. But I think they were more interested in the money I offered than the truth, quite frankly. If it was one of those two, I couldn’t find anyone who could take me to him.”

“Probably just a hired thug, anyway. Though it would have been nice to have a chance to pry the name of his employer out of him.”

Eleanor stood listening to the two men talk, trying to decide how she felt about the whole matter. Her independent nature was ruffled by Anthony setting someone to watch her without her knowledge or consent, but she also found that the concern that had prompted the action warmed her.

“Take another man or two and go back,” Anthony told Rowlands. “See if you can find either this Smiley or Farnston. Hudgins will give you some money to spread about. I’d like to talk to the kidnapper, if you can find him.”

Rowlands nodded and left. Anthony turned back to Eleanor. There was a wary look in his eyes that made her chuckle.

“You need not look at me like that,” she told him. “I shan’t bite you. I don’t like your spying on me, but the fact of the matter is, I should have taken your words more seriously. If things had happened just a little bit differently today, your setting your man to follow us might have saved Claire from kidnapping.”

“Then you believe the incident today is connected to your intruders?”

Eleanor shrugged. “It is hard to imagine all these things happening independently of each other. I can only think that whoever it is intended to take Claire and use her as a bargaining tool against me.”

“That is what occurred to me. That he hoped to get whatever he has been looking for by trading the girl for it.”

“But I still have absolutely no idea who he is or what he wants!” Eleanor exclaimed in frustration.

“If Rowlands has any luck, perhaps we can get a lead back to the culprit. And in the meantime, we ought to make a push to discover what it is the man is seeking.”

Eleanor nodded. “Yes. But first I have to get the children out of danger. I cannot risk anything happening to them.”

“I have an idea. I have a fishing lodge in Scotland. There’s a caretaker there, a fierce Scot who’s related to half the people around. No stranger could arrive there without his being alerted. We can send the children there with their governess.”

“I’ll send Bartwell with them. And Zachary. I am certain he will insist on going along to protect them.” She chewed at her lip a little nervously; she hated the thought of letting the children out of her sight.

Anthony came over to her and took her hand in his, looking down into her face. “They will be safe there. I am certain.”

Eleanor smiled faintly. “I know. I cannot help but worry, not having them right by my side, but I know you are right. I trust you.”