Mark of Caine Trilogy: Book One: Hidden in the Shadows (Victorian Villains)

Formerly a lady-in-waiting,
nineteen-year-old Laura Mayhew is the only witness to a sex scandal at Windsor Castle
and is committed to Gateshead Insane Asylum to discredit her story. Tanner
Caine
, a cold, solitary and emotionally damaged ex-naval
officer is tasked with silencing the girl permanently. Laura has the gift of
second sight and she has been expecting an assassin for months but Tanner
insists he’s only there to help. Haunted in her dreams by a baby’s cries, Laura
decides to trust the dangerous Mr.
Caine
to escape
the asylum and find the missing royal infant. When she is compelled into
marriage to obtain her release, Laura discovers Tanner
Caine
is the one man whose thoughts she cannot read. And it is possible she has
married her assassin.

Mark
of
Caine
: Hidden in the Shadows
is the first
installment
in the second trilogy
of Catherine Lloyd’s
Victorian Villains
Gothic Romance Serials
, historical romance in the tradition of Phyllis A.
Whitney and Victoria Holt. Set in 1868, England, like the “penny dreadful” of
the Age, each novella ends in a cliff-hanger. These are steamy romances
containing scenes, language and themes written for a mature audience.

Victorian Villains

MARK OF CAINE

Book One ~ Hidden in the Shadows

Chapter One

Windsor Castle ~ May 1868

A SERIES of
catastrophic events had landed Laura Mayhew in Gateshead Insane Asylum and
would keep her there if she was not careful to hold her tongue.

“It is a sticky situation. She was lady’s
maid to my daughter, Princess Louise. She is nineteen now and ought to have her
emotions under better control. If there was an alternative, I would not have
had to summon you but the situation has become untenable. My hands are tied.”

Queen Victoria turned with a sullen frown
to gaze at the man standing before her. The history she had given him of the
problem was sparse, her reasons were weak, but Tanner
Caine
appeared unperturbed. He stood at attention like an officer awaiting his orders.

“It has been rumoured that madness runs in
our veins but I can assure you, Laura Mayhew is too distantly related to offer
royal blood as an explanation for this bizarre story she is spreading.
Unfortunately, she is also too closely related to the royal family to be wholly
ignored by Parliament. Something must be done to silence her and soon. That is
all I can tell you. The events that have led up to this action cannot be
written down or entrusted to anyone’s hearing. Do you understand? Suffice to say,
the blow to the Crown would be fatal if certain powerful men began to take her
story seriously.”

“What is it you need me to do?”

Victoria’s shoulders sagged with relief. It
was this forthright presence of mind that she treasured most about the former
naval officer. One did not have to waste one’s breath with troublesome
explanations. Tanner
Caine
understood all. He was her
boots on the ground, her spy in the streets. He had more than once extricated
the Prince Regent out of a sexual scrape and cleaned up
Bertie’s
mess. The fellow had become invaluable to her since the Prince Consort’s
untimely death six years before.
Caine
got things
done. Tasks that were too unsavoury for Her Majesty’s Service to take on, she
would send for Mr.
Caine
, and all would be settled
discreetly and efficiently.

But even a man as capable and obedient as
Tanner
Caine
would have his limit and Victoria
hesitated before trying that limit. She did not want to lose him. She valued
the fellow’s good opinion almost as much as his unswerving loyalty.

“Laura’s father is Horatio Mayhew, a
distant cousin of Prince William of Denmark, now King George I of Greece.
Horatio has fallen on a financial sword since the Emancipation Proclamation in
America. I understand he had holdings in South Carolina. Clearly, he backed the
wrong horse. Mayhew lost everything with the exception of his tenuous claim to
royalty. He is weak. He will sell us out for a price and I cannot rely on him
to keep his daughter in check. As it stands, he does not believe her tale but
if she is allowed to roam the streets of London, God knows the trouble she
could stir up.”

“Where is Sir Mayhew now?”

“He is touring the Continent and plans to
do so until the end of the year. He and Lady Mayhew have abandoned their
daughter to her fate.
Quite sensibly.”
Victoria
grunted. “They cannot help her if she will not help herself. In any case, the
girl has refused everyone’s help and counsel.”

“I understand your concern, ma’am.”

“Precisely so.
I knew you would, Mr.
Caine
. You
understand everything. The question is whether there is anything you can do to
help.” Victoria dabbed a lace handkerchief at the base of her throat. They were
having an unbearably damp spring. Windsor Castle had never been less
comfortable.

“I believe I can. What are your orders?”

Her shrewd eyes took in the young man.
Tanner
Caine
was the most powerful man in England but
no one knew it. He was dishonourably discharged from the Royal Navy almost six
years ago for reasons that he refused to discuss. Victoria knew what was in the
naval record, but
Caine
refused to explain himself or
give his side of the story. He was a private citizen now, living in a hunting
lodge buried in the Berkshire countryside when he was not in London. When he
was in town,
Caine
could be found at the rooms he
rented in Baker Street. He kept a low profile which perfectly suited Queen
Victoria’s purposes.

“Your residence in Berkshire is in the
vicinity of Gateshead Asylum, is it not?”

“Yes, ma’am.
Hawthorne Hall is in Bracknell Forest. The asylum is a two hour
journey away on horseback.”

Few in Victoria’s circle of intimates
expected the twenty-nine-year-old Tanner
Caine
to
prefer a quiet country life over the glitter of London, but
Caine
retreated to the lodge as frequently as possible, resurfacing only when Queen
Victoria sent for him.

She had cause now to be deeply grateful for
his self-imposed exile; she wanted as few eyes on the task ahead as possible.
She chose well, the queen thought, sizing him up. There was not even a wife to
get in the way. Though Tanner
Caine
was often seen in
the company of beautiful women, he had never married.

No doubt because of his face.

Perhaps the deformity was a congenital
defect that he did not want to pass down to his children. Victoria could
sympathize with the feeling of looking at one’s children and seeing only the
flaws staring back. The madness, the addictions, the sexual appetites....

Caine
was tall, broad-shouldered with glinting charcoal hair and piercing
black eyes. A breathtakingly sexual man with one flaw: a physical deformity
acquired at birth, mild enough, but disturbing on first meeting. The left side
of Tanner’s face was paralytic, pulled down at the corner of the eye and mouth.
His was a half-formed beauty, which made the queen trust him all the more. Marred
men were humble enough to take orders and ruthless enough to carry them out.

“Mr.
Caine
, Laura
Mayhew must leave Gateshead Asylum and quite soon. How that is to be managed, I
cannot say, only my name must not come into it. Once she is free, I imagine she
will need an escort to her home in Dorset. It would be best for all concerned
if she never arrived.”

His pause was brief, but telling. Victoria
braced herself.

The ex-naval officer recovered his
equanimity. “How soon do you need the job done?”

“As soon as possible, but that is entirely
up to you. I ought to say as soon as it is
safe
,
only know this: I cannot run the risk of Laura Mayhew telling her story to
anyone.” She peered at him shrewdly. “Can you do that for me, sir, or have I shocked
you into speechlessness. In six years of devoted service, I never believed I
would come to you with such a request. My children have tried my patience time
and again. If given the choice, I would not have had any. But one is not given
a choice. One lies back and thinks of England.”

“What threat does the girl pose to the
Crown, ma’am?”

“Is it important that you know?”

Tanner
Caine’s
expressionless stare told her that he would not take action without cause. She
valued that quality as well, although it was cumbersome at times.

“Laura committed a capital offence for
which she cannot be brought to trial. She was Princess Louise’s confidante and
privy to sensitive information. Girlish secrets for the most part about which I
would not be alarmed were not for the fact that Miss Mayhew is determined to
make one secret in particular public. She is a grave liability. My informant
inside Gateshead tells me she befriended a young woman by the name of Clara
Hamilton and it is likely she confided the story to her. Mrs. Hamilton was released
into her husband’s care six months ago.”

“Where can I find Mrs. Hamilton? I shall
need to question her.”

“Her husband is Mr. Branson Hamilton. He
lives in Somerset at
Windemere
Hall.”

Tanner
Caine
shifted his weight. “Branson Hamilton,” he repeated.

Victoria had never seen
Caine
appear flustered before. “Do you know him, sir?”

“I did once. Not anymore.” Abruptly, he
shook off the strange mood that had overcome him. “I’ll see to it, ma’am. It
will not be difficult.”

Victoria concealed her relief. “Thank you, Mr.
Caine
. I knew I could count on you. But I must ask
... how is it to be managed?” She glanced at her man quickly and narrowly. “Your
activities cannot be linked to the Crown. If you run into difficulty, I shall have
to disavow all knowledge of you.”

“I understand. I will be acting on my own
authority, ma’am. All I require from you is a sample of Horatio Mayhew’s
handwriting.”

“Yes, of course. I have his most recent
letter here.” Victoria produced the missive and handed it to Tanner.

He tucked it in his breast pocket. “The
mark will be removed from Gateshead without alarm. Force will not be required
and she will not suffer.”

“Excellent.” Victoria wondered why she’d
been worried. Tanner
Caine
always understood
everything so perfectly.

Caine
met his sovereign’s eyes for the first time since the start of
their meeting. “A word of warning, ma’am: there can be no second thoughts once
the assignment is in play. Before I leave this room, I need to know that your
orders are final.”

Victoria took a breath, her flesh straining
against her corset. It was sad, so very sad that it had come to this, but it
had been one trial after another since Albert died. Victoria simply could not
endure the scandal that this stupid, thoughtless girl seemed determined to bring
to light. Not when Mr.
Caine
offered a solution that
would make it disappear so neatly and cleanly.

It would be as if the whole nasty business
never occurred.

Queen Victoria lifted her chin regally.

“My orders are final. There will be no
second thoughts. Good day, sir.”

Gateshead Asylum ~ the same day

LAURA MAYHEW was curled in a ball on the
tiled floor, waiting for the orderly to carry her to back to her cell. Ever
since Clara was taken away, her decline had been rapid. Laura tried to hold on
to her reason but it was proving difficult.

Being a conduit for supernatural vibrations
in a madhouse was beginning to take its toll. She was weary and her reason was
failing now that she had no one to talk to. She was beginning to doubt herself.
The ice baths, painful restraints and meaningless walks in the garden
supervised by unsmiling orderlies were a bracing relief. She depended on the
routine of society and regular habits to preserve her sanity.

The dreams had become clearer of late and
more frequent. Last night she dreamt the baby boy, now a year old, was sobbing
behind the bars of a cage. His little face was red and wet with tears. He was
utterly bereft and alone. Laura had awakened with tears streaming down her
cheeks. The vision was real. Somewhere in England, Louise’s baby son was
frightened and neglected. There was nothing Louise could do and Laura had
promised, she had
sworn
she would
protect her friend’s baby boy. She had to get out of this place and find him!

Laura had waited for over a year for Queen
Victoria to send her henchman. Whoever he was, he had still not showed. How
much longer could she survive in here? The queen was clever after all—she had
latched onto the perfect method for silencing her daughter’s friend.

Though of late, Laura had not been silent. The
dreams drove her to speak out about why she had been confined to Gateshead.
Despite Clara’s warning to keep it to herself, Laura told Dr. Rutledge everything
about the missing royal infant. His reaction was one of paternal forbearance
and a prescription for laudanum.

She did not expect him to believe her—she
expected him to report her ravings to Queen Victoria. The purpose behind such a
bold move was to provoke the queen to
take
action
.

What she would do once the queen was riled,
Laura did not know. She was depending upon her gift of clairvoyance to know how
to manipulate the situation for her release. Logically, the queen’s assassin
would not kill her inside the walls of Gateshead Asylum. A murder would attract
public attention, inevitably lead to an inquest and calls for reform, leaving a
stain on the asylum’s reputation. Whatever she had done, she was still Sir
Mayhew’s daughter and a distant relative to the Crown. Her execution would have
to be handled quietly.

It only made sense that the assassin would
find a way to get her out of the asylum first. This killer, whoever he may be,
could be her only hope to find
Loosey’s
baby boy.

Baker Street, London ~ that evening

TANNER CAINE
laboured over a clean sheet of paper with pen and ink, meticulously copying Sir
Horatio Mayhew’s hand. When the forgery looked authentic enough to satisfy, he
folded it neatly in half and slid it into an envelope. Tanner sealed the flap
with red wax and a crest that looked exactly like the House of Mayhew. He was
not concerned the crest would be scrutinized too closely. The director of
Gateshead Asylum would likely be impressed by the wax alone.

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