The Viscount's Counterfeit Wife (49 page)

Reed began to chuckle
softly. “So that’s what happened.”

“Did you wonder?”

“Not me, my… er…
Mrs. Leighton. She’s being threatened. They were upset about the
food being gone, but more upset that someone had broken into the
house while we were all asleep. That’s when Mason, the redhead, an
investigator, came to stay.

“Yes, we wondered
about him...at first. Until Morley told us he was a friend, a recent
member of the Brotherhood. The Baron talked to Mason, but was unable
to get anything out of him. He wouldn’t even admit to you being his
client.”

“Strictly speaking, I
wasn’t. Mrs. Leighton was.”

Jace bowed his head,
shaking it. Then he looked up and, in as serious a voice as Reed had
ever heard from him, said, “We put the food we removed out in the
back shed. Next morning, we found three rats stone cold dead.”

“Thank God for your
vigilance.” He was shaken by what could have happened had they not
been there. “What a bloody coil.”

“There’s more.”

Reed looked his inquiry
at his friend.

“The day you all went
out in the carriage.”

Reed nodded. “We went
to an art exhibit at the Academy.”

“I heard.” At
Reed’s incredulous look, he said, “The Baron met you...?” He
waited to see if Reed would recall that encounter.

Reed’s covered his
face with his hand. “I didn’t recognize him.”

“That’s what he
suspected.” Jace said, but he didn’t pursue the matter. “That
day, I was on my way into your house to see if I could find out what
you were up to in there. Time was running out.”

“You must have had to
restrain yourself from not just forcing your way in to confront me!”
Reed knew well his friend’s impatient nature.

“Bloody right,”
Jace growled. “That day, as I approached the back of your house, I
spotted two men entering by a back window. They didn’t stay more
than ten minutes.”

“Damnation! What were
they up to?”

“That’s what I
wanted to know. So I used the same window to get in. It didn’t take
me long to find a cylinder filled with gunpowder in the drawing room
fireplace.”

“Gunpowder! Dear God!
What could have happened...”

“And another one
upstairs in your room.” The side of Jace’s mouth lifted at Reed’s
pungent curse. “Needless to say I removed them.” He turned to
look out the window.

Force of habit, Reed
realized. “I’m surprised you waited so long.”

“Since we were pretty
well certain you weren’t in danger from those inside your house —
I thought you might have been setting up some kind of trap. Max,
being Max, had his own theories on the matter.”

“Yes?”

“He thought you were
probably making up for lost time with your mistress now that you were
home.”

“He thought I’d put
pleasure before stopping this cold-blooded monster!” Reed was
annoyed anyone would think that about him.

“You know Max. He
wasn’t being serious. It’s his way of dealing with worry.”

“How did they find
me? No one but you, Max and my brothers know about me owning the
townhouse.” He was not pleased his secret sanctuary had been so
easily discovered.

“We guessed they
probably followed one of us or your brothers.”

“Careless.” His
response was terse.

Jace shrugged
apologetically, then shifted topics. He’d clearly been reviewing
Reed’s words in his head. “Why is your lovely lady being
threatened?”

“Don’t know.” He
went to plow his fingers backward through his hair, but the cap on
his head got in the way. He settled for pushing it to the back of his
head. “Do you think they might have been targeting her even before
I arrived, just because she was living in my house?”

“Max and I only came
here for the first time after Kit told us you were in Town, and I
know for a fact your brothers didn’t go near your townhouse before
your return.” Jace leaned back against the edge of the table and
stretched out his legs. “But what would Traubridge hope to gain by
harming her without knowing what her connection was?”

“True, but nor did he
worry about killing all those innocent villagers just to get one
family.” Reed shook his head in disgust. “Damn, I was all set to
retire from this business. Now, I’m going to have to find out who’s
trying to kill her first.”

Jace grinned knowingly.
But he was more interested in other matters. “Do you still have the
documents. They should have been delivered days ago.”

Getting to the heart of
their mission, Reed acknowledged, was of utmost importance and time
was of the essence, especially given the days already lost due to his
amnesia. “I know. That’s why I came as soon as I remembered.”
He stood up. With the damn opium not completely gone from his system,
he wasn’t quite as clear-headed as he’d like to be. “The
documents are safe.” No thanks to me, he thought. “I’d like to
deliver them today. Right now.” He voiced the concern he’d
thought about many times on his way home from Egypt. “How is the
Chief going to react? Will he believe us?”

“Why would we want to
trump up such monstrous charges?”

“It’s family. He
won’t be pleased to find out Traubridge is responsible for these
crimes and may wish to shove it under the rug.”

“He may want to, but
he won’t,” Jace said. “I’ve never seen him be swayed from
doing what is right, no matter what the provocation or enticement.”

“But his own brother?
That may prove too great a temptation.”

“It won’t make his
task easier.” Jace paused, “But when it’s comes down to it,
he’s one of the only men I trust above all others to do what must
be done, no matter the cost. He won’t disbelieve us. I suspect he
might already have his own doubts about his step-brother. I just wish
our news wasn’t quite so bad.”

“Well, you know him
better than I do. I simply can’t imagine us telling him his brother
is not only a thief and white slaver, but that we have proof he has
committed numerous murders as well. It certainly won’t make us
popular.”

“You want to be
popular? Go find that fair beauty of yours and parade her down St.
James Street this evening, you’ll have all the fellows panting for
an introduction.” No well-bred woman wanted to be seen walking in
front of the men’s clubs in the evening, even escorted. He turned
his head and flashed a sideways grin. “Who is she, by the way? And
how did you end up married to her?"

“It’s too long a
story to tell you now.” His friend looked ready to protest, so he
added, “Suffice it to say, I want to keep her well away from the
Vanisher and his cohorts, and unharmed. I’ll tell you the whole
story once we finish with this nasty business and have time to sit
down for a drink.” He sat up. “Now, can we get those papers over
to the Chief posthaste?”

“Hellfire!”
Aggravation was rife in Jace’s voice. “He’s out of town and
will only be back in two or three days.”

“What? He left London
knowing I had these documents to deliver?” Reed was anxious to get
this over with. “Didn’t you tell him to be ready for me to arrive
with important papers?”

“I did.” His
friend’s reply was definite. “But you didn’t arrive when
expected and death can’t be planned. His father, the Marquess of
Olvin, passed away a few days ago. Apart from organizing the funeral,
Hallmoor has a lot of duties to take on now that he’s assuming the
title. In fact, he’s going to be retiring from the service.”

Jace’s dead neutral
tone should have warned Reed, but he was still reeling from his
recovered memory and what Jace had told him, so he wasn’t his usual
observant self. “You’re joking. I was sure he was married to that
job.” He whistled in surprise. “Who do you think is going to take
over?”

The strange silence and
impassive look on Jace’s face told it all. “You!” Reed chuckled
quietly. “I knew they’d lure you in if they kept at it long and
hard enough.”

Jace’s reply was a
vile curse.

“Seriously, Jace, I
can’t imagine a better man to take over, for the sake of the
country. But as for what’s best for you… that’s another
matter.” He grimaced. “You’ll be missed out in the field. Come
to that, like I said, I’ve been thinking of hanging up my sword, so
perhaps the timing is right for me.”

“And leave me alone
to carry the whole load? Not on your life!” his aggrieved friend
complained.

“Wait! Did you know I
was attacked on the street the other day? There was little doubt I
was intended to die.” Now that he knew why, he was able to mention
it more naturally.

“On the street? How
did you get out without us seeing you?” He groaned. “Out the back
in one of your damn disguises, I suppose.” He seemed lost for
words. “We should have considered that but we never thought you’d
be trying to avoid
us
!”

“Since I didn’t
know it was friendly spying, I was determined to avoid all
detection.”

“Attacked, you say?”
Jace snorted, “I’ll lay odds you used your oriental skills to
overpower them?”

Distracted, Reed said,
“Yes.” He was feeling frustrated and impatient at having to wait
to get the documents to his boss, while keeping Tally, Foster… all
of them! safe. He knew the Vanisher would be in Somerset at his
father’s funeral, but his right-hand man, Melvin Adley, the Mincer,
would have been charged with the task of leading the Horde in
destroying any and all who were likely to get in Traubridge’s way.
That meant they all were in constant danger until the mission was
completed.

“How many of them
attacked you?”

“Maybe four or
five...” he deliberately underplayed the incident.

“And you took them
all on and survived?” Jace’s voice held awe.

“Looks like it.”
Hearing his friend’s wry laugh, he bristled. “It wasn’t funny.
I didn’t even know I had those skills. I was certain I was about to
meet my end. I don’t know who was more surprised when my leg shot
out and kicked the first man, them or me! And then my body reacted
without my willing it. It spun and heaved several others into
oblivion. After I handled one or two more, the others ran away, so
I…”

Jace laughed quietly
then looked thoughtful. “That means they have you pegged, my
friend. They must have wanted you alive, to get the documents. But
their attempt to burn your house down, with you in it, means that now
they’re desperate enough to kill you and hope the documents go up
in flames too! We’ll have to ensure you are well protected until
the Chief gets back to town.”

“At least now I know
who I am, and who my enemies are.”
Or
most of them.
He began moving towards the back door. “Can
we meet at Sylvester’s tonight, at eleven, to discuss our plans to
keep me and my household safe?” He opened the door. “And could
you get in touch with my brothers and ask them to arrive a bit later.
They must be wondering where I’ve got to.”

“Your brothers went
to your house and your “
wife
”
told them she was renting the place for the Season and had never
heard of Viscount Selwich.”

“Oh – my – god!”
He gave a humorless laugh at how complicated life had become while he
was without his memory. “I’ll wager that took them aback.” He
stepped outside. “Just make sure you don’t let the Vanisher or
his cohorts anywhere near her.” He set off toward the park.

Jace shook his head.
“Reed, my friend, you’ll be wed before the summer is out.”

“Foster, where have
you been? I’ve been home for a good half-hour! I have to talk to
you!”

“What about?”

Tally noted he hadn’t
replied to her question. “First, where is Mr. Gordon?”

“He went out a little
while ago,” he said quietly, then seeing her activity, his voice
rose to its normal tone. “What are you doing?”

“Packing! We have to
move out. Immediately!” She was in her bed chamber haphazardly
stuffing her clothes into her valise.

“You mean we
have
been in the wrong house all along?” Despite their recent
suspicions, he sounded disbelieving. “You best fold them gowns,
Missy, or you won’t be able to wear them. You have no maid to iron
them for you,” he cautioned her, more from habit than from any real
concern about the state of her clothes.

“As if I’ve never
done that before,” she scoffed. She went to gather more clothes,
piled them on her bed and, heeding his advice despite her disclaimer,
began to fold them. He was right. It would cause her untold extra
work.

She was too
overwrought. She needed to regain her composure.

“Mr. Hornings said
Monsieur had rented the house next door, not this one,” she
explained. “At first, he was very angry. He told me I was
responsible for him breaking his word to his client. I was relieved
Mr. Mason was with me.”

She couldn’t hold
back a smug little grin. “You should have seen how quickly the
lawyer softened his tone once Mr. Mason moved forward and, in his
quiet but implacable manner, told the man to stop browbeating me.”
She laughed a little as she recalled the attorney’s reaction. “Mr.
Hornings almost apologized, he was so intimidated. And when I showed
him Monsieur’s letter, he unbent enough to allow that the error did
appear to be Monsieur Moreau’s.”

“He’s given us
until the day after tomorrow to move out, but I want us to be gone
sooner. This very minute, if I could manage it.”

“Before your
grandmother arrives!”

“Yes! The sooner I
can be gone from here the better.” She was anxious to set things
straight. “If I hadn’t been in this room when Mr. Gordon climbed
in that night, I’d never have shot him. We wouldn’t be in this
muddle and I certainly would never have had to pretend to be
married.” She knew it was unreasonable, but she felt that most of
her troubles would disappear once they left here.