Twice Tempted (5 page)

She blinked. “My…”

“You really know Gauss?” Chuffy demanded, head up, eyes alert. “Carl Gauss?”

Fiona struggled to keep up. “Well, yes. But how did you know?”

“Your grandfather’s secretary. Mr. Bryce-Jones. Worried about you.”

She felt her heart shrivel. “Ah, so you’ve been to see my grandfather. I am sorry for that. He is not the easiest person. Especially now. You see, he has a rather violent aversion to the idea that the family tree might contain a…”

Pain sliced through her chest. Poor Ian.

“Traitor,” Chuffy supplied for her with a big nod. “Not.”

She blinked. “Pardon?”

Alex leaned forward. “We have news.”

For a moment Fiona thought Alex might take her hands again. He didn’t. She felt the loss of those fingers deep in her chest where the remnants of old dreams still smoldered. Useless dreams. Dreams she had no right to. Her grandfather had made sure to acquaint her with that sad truth.

“News,” she repeated stupidly. “Something to do with my grandfather’s edict, I assume. I cannot imagine he failed to tell you of our banishment.”

“He did. But what if I told you that you could go home?”

She blinked. The feeling of disorientation grew. “I would say no thank you.”

Alex smiled back, and Fiona was the one leaning forward now, as if she could warm herself on him.

“Even if it meant having your brother back?” he asked.

She stared at him, her mind frozen. For the longest moment, she couldn’t seem to comprehend what he was saying. Something about Ian.

“But I can’t have my brother back,” she whispered, thinking that his smile was suddenly cruel. “You told me so yourself.”

“I was wrong. We all were. Ian is alive.”

She sprang to her feet. “What?”

He rose as well. He stepped closer, but she backed away. Her heart was suddenly pounding in her chest, and there seemed to be a roaring in her ears.

“We were just at Hawesworth Castle, Fiona,” Alex said, his expression so gentle as he reached out to finally reclaim her hand. “We went there to give you the good news. Ian is alive. More than that, he has been cleared of all charges. In fact, he’s helped us bring in several traitors and given us information that might lead to more.”

She kept blinking, as if that would bring the world back into focus, Alex’s strong hand her only anchor.

Alive. Ian alive. Safe. Innocent. All of them innocent of scandal.

Still the numbness didn’t dissipate. She rubbed at her forehead, as if that could help clear the confusion. “I don’t understand.”

With gentle hands, he eased her back into her chair and knelt before her, his hands on the arms of her chair. “I can’t tell you everything. I can’t even tell you where he is. There is still some danger to him, and it is considered better for him to remain in hiding. In fact, you can’t tell anyone about this yet. For his protection.”

She searched his eyes for deceit, for cruelty. She found none, only compassion, only joy. “But he is safe? He’s well?”

Alex nodded. “I’m sure he will get in touch soon. He’ll want to introduce you to your new sister-in-law.”

Fiona gaped like a simpleton. “My, he
has
been busy, hasn’t he?”

Alex reclaimed his seat. “In fact…”

She raised a hand. She didn’t want to know more. She was having enough trouble breathing as it was. “We won’t go back,” she said baldly. “I refuse to expose Mairead to that nasty old man again.”

Chuffy snorted. “Good sense. Come with us.”

She knew her eyebrows were halfway up her forehead. “Come with you? Where?”

If she had expected an answer, she was disappointed. Alex looked at Chuffy. Chuffy gaped at Alex and shook his head. “Forgot that.”

“You forgot where you want me to go?”

“We’ll figure something out,” Alex insisted. “The point is, you don’t need to stay here any longer. You should return to your rightful place in society—” His smile blossomed. “If for no other reason than to rub your grandfather’s face in your success.”

He was still smiling. Fiona’s heart felt as if it were splitting. How did she tell him? How could she ever admit the truth? No matter what he wanted, it was far too late to go back. It always had been.

She opened her mouth to answer, when she heard the front door slam. A reprieve. She needed to think. She needed to plan. Mairead would give her the chance.

“It is my sister,” she said, lurching back to her feet. “I would appreciate it if you didn’t say anything to her yet about Ian. She…doesn’t tolerate shock well.”

“You’re certain?” Alex asked, rising as well.

She was nodding when the library door slammed open. But it wasn’t Mairead. It was a scruffy boy of twelve, bent over, a hand on his thigh, panting as if he’d climbed St. Paul’s. Fiona’s relief evaporated.

“Well, Tim?”

“You…gotta come…” He threw an arm wide. “Up the hill. She’s…she’s…gonna do herself harm.” This time he shook his head. “You gotta come.”

Fiona gave a brisk nod and waved him back. “Get my cloak, Tim.”

The boy ran out without another word. Fiona turned to the men. “We will have to postpone the rest of this discussion, gentlemen. I must see to my sister.”

“We’ll help,” Chuffy offered, moving toward the door.

Fiona grabbed his arm. “You will not. It will only upset her more. If you wish, come back tomorrow afternoon. By then I will have broken the news to her. But for now, I must leave.”

“But surely you would do better with some help,” Alex protested.

For the first time since the two men had knocked on her door, Fiona was able to laugh with real humor. “Oh, Alex. I have been handling Mairead since I was in leading strings. Now go on with you. I will see you tomorrow.”

“She won’t hurt you?”

They didn’t need to know the truth. “Of course not.”

And before they could question her further, she walked over to Tim, collected her cape, and swung it around her shoulders as she strode out the door.

Chapter 3

F
our hours later, Alex still felt confounded. She was safe. It was all he could think. After the panic that had driven him all the way down from Yorkshire, the all-too-vivid images of what might have happened to Fiona and her sister, the sleepless nights and frantic driving, she’d been safe all along. Safe and fed and busy.

He had seen her and wanted to yell at her. He’d wanted to grab her in his arms and whirl her around until she couldn’t stand. She was thinner, and strain tightened her features. She was still the quiet, contained woman he’d met again in Yorkshire, which made him angry. She needed the chance to recover that bright spirit that had so set her apart. She needed to remember what it was to feel safe.

Well, he was damn well going to give her that chance.

But for now he had other issues to deal with. He had finally caught up with Marcus Belden, Lord Drake.

“I appreciate your seeing me,” he said, following Drake into the man’s library.

Drake didn’t look up from where he was pouring both of them a tot of brandy. “I’m the one who was looking for you, old lad.”

Yes. Alex knew. He accepted his glass without a word and claimed one of the green wing chairs that braced the Adams fireplace.

Drake claimed the other, pouring himself into his chair as if boneless. His eyes half-lidded, he reclined with his snifter on a crossed knee.

A dark horse was Alex’s friend Drake. Blond and blue-eyed in the finest British tradition and an earl in his own right, he was suave, handsome, and deceptively easygoing. As opposed to most of their other friends, though, Alex knew Drake’s history. And a man with that history carried more sins and secrets than Alex ever could. A man who had gathered fifteen highly placed aristocratic sons to do clandestine work for the government under the guise of a club of rakes had brains, determination, and a quiet zeal. As a rule, though, it was an almost impossible feat to catch any of it.

“So the old man simply tossed Ferguson’s sisters out?” Drake finally asked, his mellow voice barely sounding interested. “Seems a bit excessive. They didn’t point any guns at national heroes.”

Alex scowled. “They threatened the revered name of Hawes by being intimately related to a traitor.”

“But you just cleared up that misconception.”

Alex shrugged. “Evidently no one is allowed to accuse the marquess of being wrong.”

“And you wish to…?”

Alex looked up to see the telltale flicker in Drake’s eyes that betrayed him. He was interested, all right. “I wish to see that they are established in the
ton
. I wish to rub that old bastard’s nose in their success.”

“A tall order.”

Alex’s smile was rueful. “Even as we speak, Chuffy is over at Lady Bea’s dumping the butter boat in the hopes she’ll take the girls on, at least until Lady Kate gets back from her honeymoon.”

Drake cocked an eyebrow. “Lady Bea is all that is admirable, of course,” he agreed. “But are you certain Lady Kate is interested in squiring a couple of untested chicks about the marriage mart? That is not quite Lady Kate’s reputation.”

Lady Kate’s reputation was for high living and outrageous behavior.

Alex grinned. “Who in their right mind would snub Lady Kate? Especially now that she is married to an eminently respectable war hero like Harry Lidge?” Shrugging, he sat back and sipped at his brandy. “Besides, if we’re lucky the girls will be leg-shackled before Kate gets back from her honeymoon. Where did she go again?”

“Venice.” Drake had a smile like a well-fed cat, which meant that there was more to the story. “I look forward to meeting the girls. I only wish I could be there when they meet Lady Bea.”

“I don’t suppose you’d rather…”

An eyebrow went north. “Be there instead of you? No thank you. I will happily sustain myself on your stories.”

Alex looked away into the gentle shadows of the richly paneled room. “Actually, I should get back down to that house party, now that the princess is arriving.”

Drake’s eyelids all but closed. “No, actually. You shouldn’t.”

Alex froze, his snifter halfway to his lips, his heart stumbling badly. “Because I can no longer be trusted?”

Drake tilted his head just so. “Can you not?”

Alex slammed his glass on the table. “Don’t be an ass. Of course I can. I reported that the Lions contacted me, didn’t I?”

“You also left your post and let them get to Ferguson.”

Alex couldn’t remember ever seeing such a flat, opaque expression in his friend’s eyes before. It made him feel sick. “Don’t think you can flog me more than I already have. It was inexcusable, and I take the blame.”

“And we never found out what it was they wanted to tell you.”

“No. We didn’t. But you must know I’ll come to you the minute I hear from them again. Nothing is more important. Not my honor. Not my life.”

Silence stretched, sticky and impermeable, as Alex met Drake’s unrelenting gaze.

Without ever betraying a reaction, Drake took another sip of his brandy. “Actually, you’ll probably be here for a completely different reason. Your father’s home.”

Alex swore he stopped breathing. “What?”

“Sir Joseph has returned from St. Petersburg. Your mother and sister remained.”

This time Alex couldn’t manage a word. He simply couldn’t imagine any situation that would separate his mother from his stepfather.

“Is he in trouble?”

“Not the kind you think.” Alex took a breath. “It’s his heart. He has suffered two attacks and has come home to evaluate his health.”

Alex was on his feet before he knew it and heading for the door.

“Not yet,” Drake said calmly. “You need information before haring off.”

Alex stopped, his hand still on the door, his heart racing. “Then get on with it.”

“He has not put out the word that he is here or contacted your sisters, so don’t act the town crier. But the Foreign Office felt that you should be notified.”

“Thank them for me.”

Drake nodded. “His excuse for returning, if anyone should find out, is that he is bringing dispatches and briefing the prime minister on the Holy Alliance nonsense the tzar is attempting to force down our throats.” Drake shook his head. “Mysticism and politics rarely make a good marriage. But the tzar is insistent.”

Alex blinked, still distracted. He knew he would need this information for some reason. “Will we join the alliance?”

“No. But they’re going to have to be watched. So far Prussia and Austria have signed on for the betterment of kings and posterity. Sound familiar?”

Alex returned to his chair. “You think the Lions are involved?”

“Wouldn’t you?”

Alex rubbed at the bridge of his nose. “It would appeal to them, certainly. A return to absolute rule.” He huffed in dry amusement. “I can imagine what father had to say about it.”

Finally Drake smiled. “Loudly. Which is why I have someone else keeping a close eye on him. Not you,” he amended, obviously seeing Alex’s intent. “You would only draw more attention to him. Which would do nothing to ease the stress on his heart.”

Alex found himself staring at the brandy left in his snifter. “I am allowed to see him, however.”

“Of course. Any change would be suspect. While you’re there, I would count it a favor if you’d evaluate the possibility that our clever Lions have a hand in this business with the tzar.”

Alex nodded and pulled out his watch to check the time. Yes, his father should be home. “I’ll let you know,” he said, standing. “Does my father know about the Lions?”

“Not yet. Being so far away, he’s been well out of things since before the plot was discovered. Now, with his heart…” He shrugged.

“Let me assess the threat from the tzar before they decide,” Alex suggested. “And my father’s health. I won’t have him endangered.”

“There isn’t a soul in government who’d argue with you.” Drake rose to his feet. “Why don’t you consider this a bit of a hiatus, then? Visit with your father and see to the Ferguson sisters as a favor to me. Are you going to eventually return them to Yorkshire?”

Alex pocketed his watch and shared a grim smile. “Lady Fiona insists on going by Miss Fiona Ferguson. What does that tell you?”