A Season of Romance

by Wendy Soliman

  Ezra snorted. ‘Your aunt thinks very highly of herself.’

  ‘She does indeed.’ Adela seemed angry and upset. ‘Really, she has no shame. Anyway, we must take into account the fact that she and Daniel are very short of money. She might have volunteered Daniel’s services, and perhaps her own too, out of a sense of friendship. Perhaps she even has a notion of renewing their relationship. I really cannot say, but I can easily imagine my aunt snooping through my things. Her presence in my room would not seem nearly so suspicious as Daniel’s. Anyway, if they are not helping for altruistic reasons, you can be sure that my aunt would agree to gather information if Lord Jordan offered them a financial incentive.’

  ‘Even though Ripon wants to marry you and your mother has encouraged his aspirations?’

  Adela tossed her head. ‘He has now been thoroughly disabused of that notion.’

  ‘So we must add damaged pride to his list of injuries.’

  ‘Perhaps, but he didn’t know that I had no amatory interest in him on that morning we were shot at. Not for sure, since we hadn’t discussed the matter, but I can assure you that I had given him absolutely no encouragement when we were guests at his estate. It would have been cruel to raise his hopes. But you are right to suggest that Mama seemed pleased with the idea. Perhaps he just assumed that I would do whatever she asked of me.’

  Ezra grunted, finding it hard to imagine Adela, his independently-minded, impetuous little temptress, doing anything she would prefer not to. ‘Returning to Jordan, we don’t know what reason he offered to your relatives when asking them to spy on you. Or worse. If he did. If he is the traitor, he most certainly wouldn’t have made that admission, and your relatives must be curious about his interest in a young woman he isn’t acquainted with.’

  ‘I dare say he invented something plausible. Besides, since his needs coincide with theirs, they would not have asked too many questions.’ Adela shivered, although the room was not cold. ‘If Daniel can’t marry me, he would prefer to see me dead in the hope that he will profit from my death. And to assuage the damaged pride you spoke of earlier.’

  ‘From Jordan’s perspective, we know that if you were permanently silenced then proof of the traitor’s identity will likely never surface, and he will feel safe. Anyway, I have set someone to follow your cousin. We shall soon know where he goes, how he occupies his time and with whom he consorts. Then things might become clearer.’

  ‘Perhaps.’ She sighed, but didn’t seem dispirited for long. ‘Regarding these papers.’ She waved towards the pile of diaries and letters that Harker had unpacked. ‘I could not find anything that directly refers to a traitor. He writes mostly in abbreviations and says little about the mechanics of the campaigns he fought in. He just expresses his emotions.’ She looked up at him, tears in her eyes. ‘But I am convinced from the entries in the earlier diaries that he only decided to purchase his commission and abandon the Ripon estate after the disagreement with my uncle. Frustratingly, there is no indication of what started that disagreement. Believe me, I know because I sat up half the night looking.’

  Her desolate expression melted Ezra’s resolve to keep her at arm’s length and concentrate his efforts on keeping her safe.

  ‘This it too much for you.’

  He rounded his desk, pulled her to her feet and into his arms. They closed possessively around her as she laid her head on his shoulder and sobbed. Her felt those sobs racking her body and cursed himself for being so insensitive. He thought she could handle these revelations. Had assumed she was strong enough, forgetting that she was still in some respects so young and immature. Forgetting that she was emotionally involved, that her life was in perpetual danger because she resided beneath the same roof as a man who could well have been paid to kill her.

  Of course the conflux of danger and responsibility would be too much for her.

  ‘I am an insensitive ass and should not have involved you,’ he said, hating his duty. Hating his fierce determination to finish what he had started. Hating himself most of all.

  ‘Excuse me.’ She removed her head from his shoulder, wriggled out of his arms and sniffed. He reached into his pocket for his handkerchief and passed it to her. ‘I am not usually so pathetic and almost never cry. I feel much better now.’ She set her chin in a stubbornly determined line that he was beginning to recognise. ‘How can I help to resolve this sorry affair?’

  ‘You have done more than enough.’ He pulled her back into his arms and impulsively kissed her cheek. He wanted to kiss so much more of her but adjured himself to behave, aware that if he started down that route he would most likely have trouble stopping. Reluctantly he released her again. ‘All that concerns me now is keeping you safe until the traitor is goaded into showing his hand. It will happen soon. I am certain of it.’

  ‘Do you really think that Lord Jordan is the guilty party?’ she asked, resuming her seat, looking a little dazed, her bonnet askew. ‘He has a great deal to lose, I suppose, if he is exposed as an enemy of the state, which makes him dangerous.’ She looked up at him and wrinkled her brow. ‘Why would he have worked against his country? He is an earl, for goodness sake. A member of the House of Lords and a politician of some renown.’

  ‘A lot of influential men put themselves first when it looked as though Napoleon would conquer all of Europe. Approaches were made, assurances given. Bear in mind that the aristocracy would have been wiped out, much as it was in France, if Napoleon’s democracy came to power. Men determined to hold on to their lands and fortunes would have been easily manipulated. Jordan was close to the seat of power for years, and not many secrets would have bypassed him.’

  Adela widened his eyes. ‘He was privy to the Minister of War’s decisions?’

  ‘Not directly, but the blackmail and coercion of civil servants is commonplace. Someone close to the minster was either forced, or volunteered out of a sense of misguided loyalty, to pass on vital secrets to the traitor—if I am right, to Lord Jordan. He then found a way to get them to Napoleon, probably through a series of different smugglers’ routes.’

  ‘If Lord Jordan was responsible then he will stop at nothing.’ Adela tapped the fingers of one hand on the top of his desk restlessly. ‘When I came back to England and the proof against him had not been uncovered, it must have seemed like providence that my aunt was there to aid and abet his search. It probably explains why she followed us up to London so soon after our arrival here.’

  ‘If your aunt has been persuaded to help, she won’t be privy to Jordan’s real motives. He wouldn’t trust a woman not to use that information against him for her own advancement.’

  ‘A taste of his own medicine, in other words,’ Adela said, wrinkling her nose.

  ‘Quite.’ He smiled at her. ‘If you are convinced that there is nothing to help us amongst these papers, where else should we look?’

  Adela spread her hands. ‘I cannot think. I have searched absolutely everywhere.’ She pondered for a moment or two. ‘Except…’ She looked up at Ezra, her expression speculative. ‘The trunk that Papa’s papers arrived in. I did wonder if anything might be concealed in the lining. I intended to look but forgot.’

  ‘Where is that trunk now?’

  ‘In my room.’ This time the glance she bestowed upon him was fraught with worry. ‘Unlocked and unguarded.’

  ‘I doubt whether there is anything there,’ he said reassuringly.

  ‘Even so. I had best return and conduct a thorough search. Immediately.’

  ‘Will you leave these diaries and documents with me, just in case I see something in them that you have missed?’

  ‘Of course.’ She stood and collected up her reticule. ‘Likely Papa’s codes and abbreviations will mean more to you than they do to me.’

  ‘Then I will escort you home and see you tonight. You are for Lady Harrington’s ball, as I remember.’

  ‘You are surely not planning to attend yet another social event?’ Adela sent him a teasing smile. ‘I declare, yo
u are turning into a positive socialite.’

  ‘I am certainly not allowing you to attend without me there to take care of you.’

  ‘Be careful.’ She wagged a finger at him. ‘So much chivalry will likely go to my head.’

  ‘Come along, minx.’ He locked her father’s papers in a drawer, then took her elbow and steered her from the room. ‘I hope that the next time I take you up in my carriage it will be purely for pleasurable reasons.’

  ‘Why do you not,’ she suggested as they made the short journey back to Eaton Square, ‘drop a word or two in appropriate places suggesting that I have found the proof.’

  ‘Far too risky!’ He did not tell her that Gaunt had already done so, without bothering to consult him first.

  ‘If I am in so much danger now, wouldn’t it be better to draw the traitor out on our own terms? You want this over and done with as much as I do, so that you can go back to being a recluse. As things stand, I suspect that everyone who has seen us together is scratching their heads, wondering what you can possibly see if me.’

  ‘If they are wondering that, then they are either blind or stupid.’

  She waved the compliment aside. ‘The traitor will suspect the truth, though. So why not put the word out, in the strictest confidence of course, that you have deliberately pursued me in order to get your hands on proof of a treasonous act carried out by a person of high birth who would otherwise be considered beyond suspicion.’ She held up a hand to prevent his interruption. ‘I did not know there was anything to find, which is why you had to win my trust. But now I have been approached by a person who holds that proof and he intends to give it to me at Lady Harrington’s ball.’

  ‘I won’t do it!’

  ‘Stop being so noble, Ezra,’ she cried impatiently, ‘and listen to me. What I am telling you is nothing more than the truth. You did befriend me because you thought I might have that proof.’

  ‘That was before I got to know you better. Things are different now.’

  ‘And yet nothing has changed. Duty and honour require you to draw out the traitor, and I am simply suggesting the best way for you to go about it.’ She fixed him with a challenging look. ‘Unless you have a better idea.’

  ‘There has to be a safer way.’ He could not, would not, fan the flames that Gaunt had already ignited.

  ‘And yet while the situation remains unresolved the traitor becomes more anxious, and I am in greater danger since I am pivotal to the entire affair. Deny it if you can.’

  ‘I cannot, but—’

  She huffed, appearing to lose all patience with him. ‘I can see now that you are too pig-headed to admit that my idea holds more merit than any suggestions you have come up with yourself. Not that you have actually made any…’

  Her accusation caused a smile to touch his lips. ‘I cannot recall the last occasion upon which anyone referred to me as pig-headed.’

  ‘Then it is beyond time that someone did. I am not afraid of you, Lord Bairstow.’ She folded her hands, looking prim and determined.

  ‘Then you should be, my sweet. I can be a very dangerous fellow when roused.’

  ‘Drop a word or two at your club into the right ears. It will be enough.’

  Infuriatingly, Ezra knew she was right. Certain very influential people were aware of his dedication to government business; the traitor most likely amongst their number. If he were to drop into White’s tonight and let slip a casual word about duty before pleasure, it would explain the growing curiosity that his interest in Adela had created.

  ‘I did not think you so insecure that you would not take a woman’s ideas into account. One or two of us do have brains in our heads, you know.’

  He grasped her gloved hand, gave her fingers a squeeze and then turned her hand over to gently kiss the inside of her wrist. She gasped as his lips made the intimate connection and stared at him through widened eyes.

  ‘You seek to distract me, my lord, but it will not serve.’ She snatched her hand back. ‘Try to be serious for a minute or two, if you possibly can.’

  ‘For your sake, I will try, but as you yourself just pointed out, you are an adorable distraction.’

  She blinked at him. ‘Did I?’

  ‘As to your brain, it is a little too active for my comfort,’ he said softly. ‘Your total lack of concern for your own welfare is deeply disturbing.’

  ‘Whereas I have total faith in your ability to keep me safe.’

  ‘Then your faith is misplaced,’ he said, a rough edge to his voice. ‘You have not yet attended a ton ball, so you can be forgiven for not knowing quite what a crush such occasions always are. There isn’t the slightest possibility that I will be able to keep you in sight every second of the evening, and I cannot ask Lady Harrington to employ Harker as a footman so that we can use her ball as cover for more sinister activities.’

  ‘Well, I suppose when you put it like that…’ She gave an enticing little pout. ‘Even so, we should do it, Ezra.’ She sat forward, her expression animated and determined. ‘I want Daniel and his mother out of my house. If Lord Jordan does prove to be the traitor then I want him exposed, and my aunt and cousin’s complicity with him here in London exposed at the same time. I don’t care about the stigma that will attach to my family’s name. Lord Jordan could very well be responsible for my father’s death.’ Tears sparkled on her thick lashes but did not fall. ‘I will have my revenge.’

  ‘I can’t quite understand your desire to see justice served, but—'

  ‘Besides, once all this is out of the way, you will no longer have to pretend to be attracted to me.’ She smiled at him, but the gesture looked strained and failed to illuminate her eyes. ‘It seems to me that bringing this matter to a swift conclusion will benefit us both.’

  Ezra did not agree, for all sorts of reasons that he wasn’t willing to share with her. But at the same time, her suggestion was well thought out and plausible.

  ‘Very well. I will see what arrangements I can put in hand. But know this…’ He leaned forward and fixed her with a stern gaze. ‘You will be doing very little dancing, since I shall stick to your side as closely as I can, and not let you out of my sight if I can possibly help it.’

  ‘How very tiresome for you,’ she replied, failing to quell a jubilant smile.

  Chapter Fourteen

  The light-headedness that Adela felt upon her return to Eaton Square had little to do with the plan she had persuaded Ezra to consider and everything to do with his behaviour. There was no sign of Mama or her aunt—it was still too early for them to be downstairs—and she didn’t spare Daniel’s whereabouts a passing thought. Instead she slipped up the stairs and let herself into her room, where she removed her gloves, bonnet and pelisse. Ignoring her father’s trunk for the moment, she threw herself onto the window seat and stared at the street below as she thought matters through.

  She regretted becoming overwhelmed with emotion and collapsing against Ezra. Leaning upon anyone since Papa’s death was a luxury that had been denied to her. Suspicious about the circumstances surrounding his demise, she had been unsure whom to trust.

  Until now.

  Trusting Ezra came as naturally to her as breathing, even though they were barely acquainted and she knew almost nothing about him. Papa had taught her to trust her instincts, and those instincts had convinced her that Ezra was an honourable gentleman whose conscience was currently waging full-scale war with his sense of duty.

  She had felt safe for the first time since leaving the continent the moment his strong and reassuring arms closed around her. It would have been so very easy to remain there and allow someone else to shoulder her burdens for a while. She had been making all the decisions since Papa death, with no one to tell her if she was right or wrong. It hadn’t seemed important before now—one couldn’t miss what one had never had.

  Now, in a heartbeat, everything had changed.

  Adela adjured herself to remain level-headed. Ezra was totally dedicated to the service of the go
vernment and took it as a personal affront that the traitor had got away with working against British interests for so long. That was the only reason why he had gone to such extremes to get close to her. He would propose when all this was over; mindful of her reputation and of his gentlemanly responsibilities. It would break her heart to refuse him, since she had fallen rather hopelessly in love with him. But she would not accept a man who did not return her feelings and only proposed out of a sense of obligation.

  Adela roused herself and set about looking for concealed compartments in her father’s trunk. She found only dust, a loose button and a torn lining. Convinced she had not overlooked anything, she had a footman take the trunk up to the attic, thereby removing the feelings of loss and regret that the battered trunk would engender every time she looked at it.

  She spent the rest of the day writing letters to acquaintances overseas and then sitting with her mother. It was not one of their days to be at home, so they neither received nor made any calls. Her aunt had been out for most of the day, but returned in time to join them for tea, looking distracted and a little worried. She did not say where she had been, and Adela didn’t ask. Of Daniel there was no sign at all.

  At the appropriate hour, Adela commenced her preparations for the evening to come, determined to look her best for no reason other than it would give her added confidence. She concentrated upon her reflection as Bess helped her into her gown. Her maid was unusually verbose, over-familiar almost, probably sensing Adela’s disappointment in her. Adela let her rattle on and barely spoke a word in response.

  Her new ball gown was of lilac striped French gauze over a white satin slip, elaborately trimmed with a deep flounce of Brussels lace and a contrasting wreath of satin roses. The bodice was cut low and the short puff sleeves left her shoulders bare. Her hair was finished with an elegant aigrette of pearls at the front and a sprig of French roses close to the back of her head.

  When she went downstairs, she found her mother and aunt waiting for her, already dressed for the ball. Daniel was there too. He held a glass of whisky in his hand and his expression showed evidence of strain, as did the pinched lines around his mouth. He cast a glance at Adela in her lovely gown but didn’t offer a single word by way of compliment.