The Wedding Runaway (32 page)

Victor carefully placed the decorative ball down and returned to his chair.
"
I need to know.
"

"
You might think better of it.
"
Tony gave one last shot.
"
Why are you hiding your American friend?
"

Victor popped up again.
"
Bloody hell
,
what do you know?
"

"
Nothing
,
just guessing.
"

Victor raked a hand through his hair. Had Tony used a he or she in reference to Leonard? Or had he avoided gender specific references the same way Victor did?

"
My lips are sealed in any case. I have not even mentioned my suspicions to Felicity.
"
Tony said.
"
Although
,
the curse is beginning to make sense to me.
"

"
What do you suspect?
"
demanded Victor. He did not know why he bothered; Tony always got at the bottom of every mystery.

"
Sit. I
'
ll tell you what I learned about your mother-in-law. I warn you that part of her sad tale concerns your late wife.
"

Victor suspected as much. He also suspected Tony would not tell until he knew beyond a doubt that Leonard was a woman. Hell
'
s bells
,
how would he ever preserve her reputation if everyone knew his protégé was really his protégée?

~*~

Trevor stared at the engraved invitation in his hand. He
'
d meant to say no
,
but the major
'
s wife had startled him when she said
,
"
Lady Helena has already accepted. You do know Lady Helena Bosworth
,
do you not?
"

"
Other than the invitation to dine
,
that was a waste
,"
said Oscar.

"
Who is this Lady Helena?
"
asked James.

"
I got the feeling he knows where Lydia is
,"
Trevor said
,
choosing to reply to Oscar rather than answer his brother
'
s question.
"
And it is dinner and dancing afterward.
"

"
Trevor
,"
said James sternly
,
pulling rank on him.

He
'
d meant never to see Lady Helena again.
"
Perhaps we should hire a runner.
"
Get the business of finding Lydia done and leave England and never return.

"
I thought you just said you think Major Sheridan knows where Lydia is.
"
James pushed a chair back in the inn where they had stopped for their evening meal.
"
He
'
s very hard to read.
"

"
I
'
m not sure he is a very good investigator. He did not ask much after learning how she looks
,"
Oscar said.

Trevor laid the invitation down on the table. He
'
d hoped this Major Sheridan would solve their problem quickly
,
and they could be on their way home to America.
"
That is why I believe he already knows where she is.
"

"
Then why not have done with it and tell us?
"
Oscar rubbed his forehead.
"
What reason could he have to keep silent?
"

"
He does not know positively? Maybe he only has strong suspicions
,"
offered James.
"
In any case, he asked for only two days before he will report his findings.
"

"
Report if he has findings
,"
corrected Trevor. How could it be that if Lydia was here in London
,
he had not run across her? He had spent the last few days walking every byway and lane where a young woman or woman pretending to be a young man might be found in this city.

He had not seen Lydia
,
but every woman bore a striking resemblance to Lady Helena until he got close enough to see they were not her.

~*~

Lydia shifted listlessly on the bed. She rotated her wounded shoulder and lifted and lowered her arm a few times. Victor had told her she needed to start moving her arm in spite of the pain
,
or she might lose her full range of motion. Other than that, he had hardly said boo to her in the last couple of days.

At first
,
he had been in such a dark mood that she thought it best to leave him be
,
but then as she realized he was avoiding her
,
exiting the room the minute she woke
,
locking the door between their two rooms at night
,
she tried to convince him to stay to talk to her.

Truth was she was bored to tears
,
even though an eclectic selection of books had shown up in her room. From several marble-veined jacketed books
,
which contained light fiction from Minerva Press
,
to a treatise about the rights of women written by a Mary Wollstonecraft
,
as well as a book titled Emma written By A Lady.

She
'
d read them all
,
and she was tired of reading. She wanted to do something. Her shoulder was on the mend and she bore the pain without the laudanum. She should just return to her apartments and be done with this odd limbo of living with Victor.

A tap on her door made her heart leap. She should not be so ridiculously happy to see him
,
that a tap on the door made her blood race. Besides, it was more likely to be Jenny or Victor
'
s valet
,
the only two servants allowed in his bedroom.

"
Come in
,"
she called.

"
Where is your maid?
"
Victor asked as he entered the room with several packages wrapped with brown paper and tied with twine in one arm and a hat box dangling from his other. He kicked the door shut with his heel.

"
I am sure I don
'
t know
,"
said Lydia.

"
I thought you might wish to go for a walk.
"
He dumped the packages on the bed.
"
If you are feeling well enough.
"

As usual
,
he hardly looked at her as he spoke.

"
I would like nothing better.
"
His distance leached anticipation out of her.

"
Shall you not open these?
"
He gestured toward the packages. Then he looked at her.

Her heart missed a beat as she drank in his dark gaze. But she was uncertain of his intent
,
so she lowered her chin
,
before he could read how very hungry she was for a tiny spark of acknowledgement that those kisses and mind-bending touches weren
'
t a laudanum-induced hallucination.

She reached for the package on top and undid the string. After pushing aside the paper
,
she unfolded a morning dress of pale blue silk with a ruched bodice and embroidered pattern of green leaves along the hemline of the long sleeves and the skirt.

She looked up at him.

"
Should I duck?
"

She shook her head, failing to understand. He had bought her a dress
,
a beautiful dress. Did he really see her as a woman? Want to see her as a woman? Yet
,
she could not accept such a gift without being fully aware of the implications. Men bought their mistresses dresses. She clasped the gown to her chest, feeling tears burn at her eyelids.
"
Why?
"

"
I was not sure if you would want to throw something at me or would be pleased. I had my tailor take your measurements to a dressmaker. If it fits well
,
we should order more dresses for you. Jenny says you only have the traveling dress you wore when you left Boston.
"
He paced away from the bed.
"
There is a pelisse and muff in one of the other bundles.
"

"
I cannot accept such gifts from you.
"

"
Think of it as wergild
,
for the death of Lenny.
"

"
I
'
m not sure that I am ready—
"

He turned and leaned his palms on the bed.
"
Lenny has to go
,
Lydia Margaret Hamilton.
"

Oh, my God
,
when had he learned her name? Her full name? She stared at him, too shocked to speak.

"
You have two brothers and a fiancé in London looking for you
,
and we need to talk about what you should do.
"
He pushed away from the bed.
"
What you want to do. We have to walk
,
because God knows
,
I cannot keep my mind on any subject beyond seducing you while we are in my bedroom.
"

He walked across the room and put his hand on the door.

Fear and doom crashed together in her heart
,
jolting her with the unpleasant wash of sea-cold dread. Was he taking her to them? And Oscar had come too?

A thud and shouts drifted up the stairs. Fiddlesticks
,
had her brothers learned where she was and come to rescue her?

"
He
'
s not here.
"
She heard Millars call out.

"
I
'
m going to kill him! I
'
m going to kill them both!
"
came the next shout.

Lydia stared at the door and Victor
,
not recognizing the voice. Was it Oscar? She had not heard him in months
,
yet the rage and anguish was clear.

Lydia could hear the futile protests of
"
Sir
,
please come away. Sir! Sir!
"
from the servants.

Victor had paled. He turned toward her.
"
Hide.
"

His one word command jolted her into action. Lydia scrambled off the bed and yanked back the wardrobe door. She scrambled in among Victor
'
s black jackets and waistcoats.

The bedroom door opened
,
and Victor sounded as calm as ever as he spoke.
"
Hello
,
George.
"

Who on God
'
s green earth was George?

Chapter Fourteen

George planted a hand in the middle of Victor
'
s chest and shoved. With his other hand, George waved the letter Victor had sent him. His face mottled with anger.
"
What the bloody hell do you mean by this?
"

"
I thought it fairly straightforward.
"
Victor glanced over his shoulder to make sure that Lydia was out of sight.
"
I meant what I wrote.
"

George followed his line of sight and must have seen the dress on the bed.
"
Is she here?
"
He dropped the letter and wrapped both his hands around Victor
'
s neck.

"
Your wife?
"
Victor managed to sputter out. He clawed at the fingers around his neck
,
wondering if he had bitten off more than he meant to chew
,
and equally fearful that Lydia would take it into her head to rescue him.

"
Where is she?
"

Veins popped out on Victor
'
s forehead and spots danced before his eyes. With all the equanimity he possessed, he folded his arms and pointed one finger at George
'
s murderous grip.

A contingent of his servants burst into the room and pulled George free of him. Millars must have assembled reinforcement. Victor sucked in a lung-filling gasp.
"
I cannot very well...answer questions...while you are choking me
,"
he managed to get out between rasping breaths.

He pointed to the door.
"
Everyone out.
"

His footmen looked unsure.

"
Go ahead
,
release him.
"

Wide-eyed maids filled the doorway. All he needed now was for Lydia to pop out of the wardrobe and all his precautions to keep her identity secret would be for naught.

"
I shall not tussle with you
,
George. I find it undignified these days. Perhaps we could go downstairs and discuss this like gentlemen over...tea.
"
He wanted brandy
,
but George no longer drank
,
at least not that Victor knew.

George
'
s chest heaved and he looked mad as a tortured bull in an arena.

"
Or we could air all our laundry in front of the servants
,"—
Victor glared at his staff—
"
who cannot be trusted to keep gossip to themselves.
"

Several of the maids must have recalled their duties as they backed away from the door
,
and the footmen released George and filed out of the room. He hoped none of them noticed the dress on the bed
,
or their speculation about his pet boy would really run rampant.

George stepped forward and shoved him anyway.
"
I ought to call you out.
"