Heart of Courage (13 page)

“Annie!”

“Relax, I'm coming.” A slinky brunette sauntered in wearing little more than Mandy, just a pale pink chemise that flashed when her dressing robe parted as she crossed the room.

She stopped in front of Thor, looked him up and down. “You look familiar. Have we met somewhere before?”

“I do not think so.”

“You're right. You're one I would remember.” She turned her attention to Lindsey. “So what can we do for you?”

“She's Rudy Graham's sister,” Mandy said. “You remember—he was here a couple of times with Phoebe. He's the gent they arrested for her murder.”

Annie stiffened. “Get the bloody hell out of here.”

“My brother didn't kill your friend. According to the witness—a woman named Mary Pratt—Rudy looks like the man who killed Phoebe, but Mary didn't actually see him, just a man who fit his general description.”

“Tall, slim, light hair,” Thor added. “Fancy dresser. Do you know such a man?”

“Lot of gents fit that description,” Mandy said.

“Your brother was the one who was with her the night she was killed,” Annie said sharply.

“He left her at the House of Dreams,” Lindsey countered. “She was on her way home when she was killed.”

One of Annie's black eyebrows went up. “That so?”

“Phoebe liked to dream,” said Mandy. “Thought it made life easier. She brought in clients for Sultry Weaver in exchange for a bit of the drug.”

“We know this,” Thor said. “Was there a man she saw more often than the others, someone who might have felt she belonged to him?”

“You mean someone who might have been jealous enough to kill her?” Annie asked.

Thor nodded.

“Nobody we know of,” said Mandy, getting a look of agreement from her roommate. “She did her job, never got mixed up with any of her customers. She was smart, was Phoebe.”

“Hard to believe she's gone,” said Annie.

“If you think of something,” Lindsey said, “anything that might be of help, we'd appreciate it if you would send word. I work at
Heart to Heart
ladies' gazette. The office is in Piccadilly.”

“We'll keep our eyes open,” said Annie. “Nothin' we'd like more than to see the blighter swing.”

Lindsey thanked them for their time, and she and Thor left the apartment. Thor helped her climb into the carriage, then took up his silent vigil from the opposite seat.

“We didn't learn much,” Lindsey said.

“Mayhap they will think of something later.”

“Perhaps.” She toyed with a fold in her skirt. “I guess you haven't changed your mind about…you know…us.”

Thor just grunted.

“You…um…haven't been back to Madame Fortier's, have you? Recently, I mean?”

Thor shot forward in his seat so fast she gasped. His fierce blue eyes burned into her. “I have not been there. But I am a man and I am in need of a woman. That need grows stronger each time I am with you, Lindsey.”

She reached out and touched his cheek, felt the hard curve of his jaw. “What happened the last time we were together…it was wonderful, Thor. I want to know the rest, I want to experience all of it. Let me be the woman you need.”

His hand shook as he raked back his thick dark hair. “You make it sound easy, but it is not. What would happen should I get you with child? Have you thought of that, Lindsey?”

“There must be a way to prevent it.” She thought of Coralee's husband's Indian valet, a man who brewed all manner of potions. “I have a friend who might be able to help.”

“No.”

She glanced down. His coat had parted, exposing the hard ridge pressing at the front of his trousers. Knowing she shouldn't, too curious to resist, she reached over and lightly touched him, felt the stiff length leap at her touch.

Thor knocked her hand away. “Gods' blood, woman!”

“You still want me. You cannot deny it.”

“I want you. I look at you and I want to tear off your clothes. I want to suckle your beautiful breasts and bury myself inside you. I want to take you until both of us are too exhausted to move.”

Her heart pounded and her stomach quivered. Her palms were damp but her mouth felt dry. How could mere words make her feel that way, hot and cold all over, a soft ache throbbing between her legs?

“I know where you live,” she said. “Krista showed me once when we went shopping. I shall come to you tonight.”

He pinned her with a glare. “I will not be there. I will be busy with the whores at the Red Door.”

Pain knifed into her heart. It shouldn't have hurt, but it did.

They rode along in silence toward her home. They had finished work for the day and were out of leads to follow. She looked up at Thor, saw the turbulence in his expression, a mixture of determination and regret. And there was something more, a yearning so powerful it made her breath catch.

She summoned her courage. “I am coming, Thor,” she said softly. “I hope that you will be there.”

The carriage jerked to a halt before he could come up with a reply.

The coachman jumped down from above and pulled open the door. “We're 'ere, guvner.”

Lindsey took the driver's hand and let him help her down. Thor seemed too stunned to move from his seat.

“Lindsey!” he called out to her through the window as the coachman returned to the top of the carriage.

Ignoring him, she collected her skirts and raced along the path to the house.

T
he sun shimmered like old gold at the edge of the horizon as darkness began to shroud the city. Lamps burned in windows, casting a soft yellow glow into the street. Lindsey was on her way to the Mayfair residence of the Earl and Countess of Tremaine, only a few blocks away.

Determined not to lose her courage, as soon as the carriage rolled up in front of the house, she descended the iron stairs and quickly made her way up the brick path to the door of the earl's three-story town house. Coralee Whitmore Forsythe and her husband, Gray, had returned just two days ago from their six-week journey across the Continent.

The butler opened the door. “May I help you?”

“I am a friend of the countess. I was hoping—”

“Ah, Miss Graham. Do come in. I'll tell her ladyship you are here. If you will please follow me.” He led her into an elegant drawing room done in dark green and gold, with flocked paper on the walls and gilded lamps on the polished mahogany tables. A white marble hearth sat at the end of the drawing room, the painting of a pastoral scene hanging above it.

Coralee walked in a few minutes later, a broad grin on her face. “Lindsey! It's so good to see you!”

“Coralee!” The women embraced then Lindsey stepped away to survey the friend she hadn't seen in weeks. “You look wonderful. I have never seen you quite so radiant.”

Corrie was petite and fine-featured, with thick copper hair pulled into curls on each side of a very pretty face.

“I am married to the most wonderful man on earth and I am in love. I suppose it must show.”

“Truly, it does.” They moved a little farther into the drawing room, walking close together.

“How was your trip?” Lindsey asked.

“Marvelous. I saw such wondrous sights. Paris was…well, it was simply grand. I enjoyed it even more being with Gray.”

“It's nice that you both like to travel. My parents are gone so much of the time. Even when Rudy and I were little, they traveled constantly. I suppose that is why I never really cared much about it.” Lindsey glanced toward the door leading into the hall. “Is your husband at home? I am not keeping you from him?”

“He had some errands to run. He has not yet returned.”

They crossed to the sofa and Lindsey caught both of Coralee's small hands. “I am sorry to barge in this way when you are only a few days home, but my life seems to be taking one unexpected turn after another and I am hoping you might be able to help me.”

“You are not barging in. I am delighted to see you after all of this time and of course I will help in any way I can. Why don't I ring for tea and you can tell me what has happened while I was away.”

“I could certainly use a cup,” Lindsey said, hoping to fortify her courage. In fact, if she actually went through with her plans for tonight, she would need something far stouter than tea.

Coralee used the bell pull then returned to the dark green velvet sofa and sat down beside her.

“All right,” Corrie said, “why don't you start from the beginning? Tell me what has you so upset that you have come so unexpectedly?”

Lindsey took a breath, trying to decide where to begin. For the next half hour, they sipped tea while Lindsey told her friend about the murders in Covent Garden, about Rudy's arrest, and the investigation she had been conducting.

“Good lord, I had no idea.” Corrie lifted her gold-rimmed porcelain teacup, but didn't take a sip. “Have you made any progress?” She neatly balanced the cup and saucer on her lap.

“We managed to get Rudy released from prison, but there is every chance the police will come after him again. That is why it is so important to find the real killer.”

“That could be dangerous, Lindsey.”

“I already learned that firsthand…which is the reason Thor has been helping me.”

Corrie's green eyes sharpened. “Thor? I thought the two of you did not get along.”

Lindsey glanced down at her teacup, ran a finger around the rim. “We…um…didn't really know each other. Now that we do…well, things have changed.”

“Go on.”

Lindsey set her cup and saucer down on the table in front of the sofa, reached over and caught hold of Corrie's hand. “You and Krista are my two dearest friends. You are both independent women, the sort to go after what you want. I am hoping you will understand when I tell you that Thor and I…we share a very strong physical attraction. You and Krista were lucky enough to marry men you love, but that isn't going to happen to me.”

“You can't know that—not for certain.”

Lindsey sighed. “I'm a realist, Coralee. I shall wind up married to some very proper aristocrat with an impressive title and fortune. I shall never know passion—not the sort you and Krista share with your husbands.”

“What are you saying, Lindsey?”

“I want to know that sort of passion just once. I want to feel it all the way to my bones. Thor makes me feel things I never knew existed. We cannot marry. We are completely ill-suited. My family would never approve and even if they did, it could not possibly work. We are simply too different.”

“But you want him to make love to you.”

“Yes.”

“I am surprised Thor would agree. He is certainly virile enough, but he is a great deal like his brother. Both men have a very strong sense of honor. If he made love to you, I should think he would feel obligated to marry you.”

“That is why I need your help. Thor understands we cannot wed. Which is, as you have guessed, the reason he refuses to make love to me. He is also worried that he might get me with child. That is the reason I am here.”

Corrie leaned forward, moving the copper curls clustered on her shoulders. She set her cup and saucer down on the table. “You are speaking of Samir,” she said with complete understanding.

“Krista told me about your husband's valet. He is from India, is he not?”

“Why, yes, he is.”

“And he makes all sorts of potions and elixirs?”

A slight nod of her head. “He helped Gray save my life.”

Her eyes widened. “What happened?”

“It is a very long story and best saved for another time. Tell me what you wish of Samir.”

Lindsey smoothed her skirts. “I was hoping…I thought that perhaps he could make a potion for me that would keep me from conceiving a child.”

Corrie's gaze searched her face. “You would be taking a very big step, Lindsey.”

“Could he do it?”

“I imagine he could.”

“How long would it take?”

“In his quarters, Samir has a wall full of potions—bottles and packets of herbs he uses for healing. Odds are he already has such a brew.”

Her heartbeat quickened. “I would pay him extremely well.” She could go to Thor tonight, as she yearned to do. She reminded herself that he might not be there, that he might be with another woman, and ignored a stab of pain she had no right to feel. Thor owed her no loyalty. In fact, he had done everything in his power to keep her away.

Still, she believed he wanted her as badly as she wanted him.

“Are you certain about this, Lindsey? I can tell you from experience, some of our best ideas wind up being our worst.”

“I might never have this chance again.”

“What about Thor? He is different from other men, more sensitive, more caring than most. If he makes love to you, he may feel that you belong to him. That is what happened to Krista. Fortunately, she was in love with Leif so, in the end, everything worked out.”

Lindsey glanced away, her chest suddenly tight. She told herself she wasn't in love with Thor. Even if she were, she could never marry him.

“Thor has more women than any man has a right. When we part, he will have any number of willing females to take care of him. This brief time is all I will ever have. Will you help me, Coralee?”

Her petite friend rose from the sofa. “I will speak to Samir, see if he has what you need.”

Lindsey rose and caught Corrie's hand. For an instant, tears flashed in her eyes. “Thank you.”

Coralee just nodded, turned and walked away. She couldn't help thinking of Thor and the sort of man he was, wondering how he had managed to become so entangled with Lindsey.

Love was the only answer.

Clearly Lindsey was in love with Thor, though she didn't seem to know. There had always been something between them, though both had tried to resist the pull of attraction that had been there from the start.

Was it love?

Even if it were, sometimes love wasn't enough.

Corrie had almost lost Gray because of the choices she had made and the games she had played.

She prayed Lindsey was not about to make the same mistake.

 

Rudy was in the Oak Room with Aunt Dee when Lindsey returned to the house. She had told her aunt that she was going to visit Coralee and wouldn't be home for supper. The meal was now over and Lindsey headed down the marble-floored hall to the drawing room paneled in polished oak that was the most comfortable in the house. She was worried about her brother. Whatever happened in her own life, keeping Rudy from the gallows was most important.

She smiled as she walked in. “Good evening, Aunt Dee…Rudy.” She glanced from one to the other, caught the tension sparking between them.

“Hey, sis.” Rudy managed a halfhearted smile. “I was just telling Auntie I was thinking of going to the theater. She doesn't think it's a good idea.”

“The play happens to be at the Theatre Royale in Drury Lane,” Aunt Dee said simply.

Lindsey's attention swung to her brother. “Covent Garden? My God, Rudy, are you mad? You just got out of prison. The police are looking for any excuse to arrest you again. Do you want to hang?”

His face went a little bit pale. He stared down at the toes of his expensive leather shoes. “I just…I been locked up in prison, now I'm cooped up here. I gotta get out, sis.”

Delilah stood up from her place on the leather sofa. “I understand a young man Rudy's age doesn't want to spend his evenings at home. I was just suggesting to your brother that perhaps we should spend a few weeks in the country. The gardens at Renhurst are quite glorious in the fall. The change would be good for all of us, and it would give the gossip a chance to die down.”

Lindsey felt a wave of relief. It would be wise for Rudy to get out of London, at least for a while. “I think that is a splendid idea.”

And there was the added bonus that Merrick Park was the estate next to Renhurst Hall. It was insane to believe the viscount had any part in the brutal murders, as the note she had received suggested. Still, while she was there, she would do a little checking, see if anything seemed out of the ordinary.

“So whatcha think, sis? I'll go if you will?”

Getting her brother away from trouble was her first priority. She could find a substitute to handle her column for a couple of weeks. Perhaps Coralee might even agree to help her, since Lindsey had stepped in so that Corrie could investigate the death of her beloved sister. Coralee might fill in for a while, though she was no longer interested in the job full time.

“I am writing a novel,” Corrie had said during their recent conversation. “It's a romantic story of a woman who travels to Paris under a false identity and meets the man of her dreams.”

A little like what had actually happened to her, Lindsey thought, though Corrie had traveled only as far as Castle Tremaine and never left English shores before her honeymoon.

Lindsey glanced over at her brother. “As I said, I think it's a marvelous notion. I shall need a couple of days to work out my schedule. Why don't I join the two of you there the first of the week?”

“Excellent,” said her aunt. “And I was thinking that once we are in residence, we might have a bit of a house party…just a few close friends, nothing extravagant. It is best to keep up appearances, after all, show that we are not the least concerned about the charges that were falsely made against Rudy.” One of her eyebrows lifted as her glance strayed in his direction. “And perhaps it will keep your brother entertained.”

Lindsey's gaze followed. “What do you say, Rudy?”

“I say why not? Beats sitting around, waiting for the ax to fall.”

“Rudolph!”

He grinned mischievously at his aunt, a hint of the boy he had been. “Sorry, Auntie.”

Lindsey almost smiled. Aunt Dee wanted to have a house party and Lindsey would bet Colonel Langtree's name could be found at the top of the guest list. “A house party, it is. As you say, Aunt Dee, we need to keep up appearances until all of this is behind us.”

And so it was settled. Delilah would send word ahead to Renhurst, then she and Rudy would travel the following day and Lindsey would join them there a few days after that.

In the meantime, she had plans for the evening that did not include guests.