He gave her a sidelong wink. “Within reason of course.”
Her cheeks reddened. “Of course,” she replied. He felt her bracing to blurt out her question, and he, in turn, braced to have it asked of him. Probably it would be something having to do with the rumors she’d heard about his father. It disappointed him that she would be intrigued by such gossip, but he supposed it was not unusual for young ladies to find scandal intriguing.
“My lord, do you have a … a … particular interest in finding Anna?” she asked, keeping her gaze firmly ahead of her. “That is to say, are you perhaps, her special friend? I couldn’t help but notice how concerned you are for little Alice’s well-being, and I can think of no other reason why you would be so concerned about finding her. And you were so ready and willing to assist me in my search for her.”
Before he could respond, she kept on, “I wouldn’t be shocked or surprised if it were true. I mean, it is not unusual for gentlemen to … that is to say, I know gentleman have their intrigues, and I have guessed for some time that Anna was supplementing the income I gave her in some manner. And knowing how little she charges for her lessons, I know she has to be getting more funds from somewhere. And—”
Alec had to put a stop to this before the poor girl talked herself into a swoon.
“Stop!” he said before she could go on. “Do stop, Miss Shelby. I will respond to your questions just as soon as I am able to find a … a … stopping place.”
Though she was in mid-sentence, she stopped obediently and he made a mental note to tell her how grateful he was for it. He turned his attention to the road and was relieved to see that they were nearing Green Park. It would make as good a place as any to have their little chat.
He waited until the curricle stopped moving before he turned to her. She stared studiously at her gloved hands, which were clasped together tightly. He wished he could ignore propriety and take her hand in his, but that would hardly make her more comfortable. And she was already uncomfortable enough.
“Miss Shelby,” he said finally, watching her intently. “Please be assured that I have never even met your Mrs. Turner, let alone conducted a liaison with her.”
She let out a sigh—whether it was of relief, he did not know. He doubted she would continue to be relieved once she heard his reasons for wishing to assist her.
“There is, however,” he went on, hoping she would not be too angry with him, “a member of my family whom I believe is … ehem … intimately acquainted with your friend.”
At this, she lifted her head to look fully at him. “Your uncle,” she said with a moue of distaste.
He could hardly blame her for the sentiment since he disapproved of the man too.
“Yes,” he said. “I suspected him at first of being the father of your friend’s child. He is, after all, not known for always being a gentleman when it comes to women who are in a position to be exploited. And I believe he was spending a great deal of time with your father during Mrs. Turner’s time in your household.”
“He was indeed,” Juliet said with a sigh. She suddenly looked weary, as if she’d been bearing more than her fair share of this burden for too long. He wished there were some way he could help her, aside from simply driving her around town.
“Well, I suppose I cannot blame you for thinking the worst of your uncle,” she continued. “Though I can tell you that Anna has refused again and again to tell who Alice’s father is. And believe me, I’ve tried repeatedly to make her name the man who attacked her. But she was firm about that. Even though I did try to persuade her to tell us simply for safety’s sake. I dislike thinking that such a man is free to prey upon unprotected young women with impunity.”
“As do I,” Alec said, his mouth twisting with anger. He knew there were certain so-called gentlemen who enjoyed exerting their power over those women who should be off-limits, and it sickened him to think that his own uncle might be one of them. But he knew well enough what the men in his family were capable of. “But I have since spoken to Roderick and he swears that he has never been involved with Mrs. Turner. And though I do not trust the man as far as I could lift him, I do believe he is telling the truth in this instance.”
Juliet’s brow furrowed, still, however. “Then why have you continued to assist me?” she asked, puzzled. “You are under no obligation to help me, I assure you.”
“My dear Miss Shelby,” Alec said, assuming his social mask once more, “cannot a fellow offer his assistance to a damsel in distress for no other reason than to enjoy her company?”
She gave him a winsome half smile. “I think a fellow can talk a great deal of nonsense,” she said with a laugh. “Now, do be serious. I can just as easily ask Cecily or Winterson to help me find Miss … Mrs. Turner. I do not wish to take advantage of your good humor.”
“Miss Shelby,” he said, damning propriety, and taking her gloved hand in his, “Juliet, I wish to assist you in this matter for your own sake. Because I wish to help you find your friend. And perhaps a bit because I wish when it was needed, that someone had lent their assistance to my mama, who also found herself involved in a situation that was more than she could handle alone.”
If she was taken aback, she did not show it. Instead, Juliet looked down at their joined hands. When she glanced up, he saw that there was a suspicious moisture in her eyes.
“Well, whatever your reasoning, my lord,” she told him, “I thank you. And I feel quite sure that your mama would be enormously proud of you.”
Pulling her hand away, she untied and retied the ribbons of her bonnet and turned to him. “Now that we’ve got all that out of the way, let’s get to Signor Boccardo’s before the afternoon gets away from us. Alice needs her mama.”
Resisting the urge to kiss her on the nose, Alec simply nodded, and giving his horses the signal to set off, he steered them back onto the pavement and toward Bloomsbury, where Boccardo’s studio was located.
* * *
The silence as they drove to Signor Boccardo’s studio allowed Juliet to marvel at her own temerity. Had she really accused Lord Deveril of keeping Mrs. Turner as his mistress? Not in so many words, but that’s what she’d done.
She wasn’t sure when the idea had first occurred to her, but the more she considered his continued offers of assistance, the more she’d begun to see the possibility as a likelihood. As soon as he’d mentioned his uncle, however, it had all become clear to her. Of course Deveril had suspected his uncle of being Alice’s father. And if Alice were his uncle’s by-blow it would make a great deal of sense that Lord Deveril would wish to take the child under his protection. That Alice was not, indeed, his cousin, made little difference now. He had agreed to take care of the child, and as a gentleman he would do so whether the child was a relative or not.
Juliet was still in a bit of a brown study when the curricle came to a halt before an unassuming house on a quiet Bloomsbury street. She felt a little thrill when Alec took her by the waist and lifted her to the ground beside the curricle. Did she imagine the flash of fire in his eyes when he looked at her? She had no way of knowing, but felt the telltale flush in her own cheeks with a mixture of exasperation and embarrassment. Most days she enjoyed her fair skin and auburn hair, but it did become tiresome to have her every emotion displayed upon her cheeks.
“Shall we?” Lord Deveril asked, offering her his left arm so that she might use her walking stick in her left.
They were shown by a footman into a small but lavishly furnished sitting room, where the signore’s origins in Italy were evident in the continental décor. Thick carpets covered the floor, and various sculptures, paintings, and bric-a-brac filled every available surface in the little room. Even so it was a comfortable, well-lived-in sort of chamber. One that had obviously seen a woman’s hand, Juliet thought as she noticed the needlework stretched out upon a wooden frame just next to a comfortable-looking chair.
“My dear Lord Deveril, to what does La Fortunata owe the pleasure?” asked a striking wom
an of middle years without preamble as she swept into the chamber.
Juliet was startled by the woman’s entry, but not particularly surprised to know such a creature was already acquainted with Alec. She was gorgeous and had doubtlessly enjoyed a career in the opera before marrying the signore. And though he was discreet, Alec did have a bit of a rakish reputation. Unless, of course, this woman was a pupil of the signore and she and Alec knew one another from elsewhere.
Seemingly unfazed by the beauty’s entrance, Lord Deveril bowed over her outstretched hand. “Fortunata,” he said with a smile, “it’s been some time. I did not expect to find you in Bloomsbury of all places.”
La Fortunata gave an exquisite shrug. “It is where my Pietro has his studio and so long as he must be here, then so too must I.”
She turned her gaze upon Juliet, a speaking brow raised as she looked her up and down. “This is your wife, my lord? She is not in your usual way, I think.”
Before he could correct her, Juliet took the bull—or the diva as it were—by the horns and broke in. “Goodness me, no! I am merely his lordship’s acquaintance. We’ve come to see your husband about my friend, who is missing.”
The beauty looked as if she wished to inquire why his lordship was paying calls with someone who was a mere acquaintance, but Alec cut in. “Miss Shelby is a friend, Fortunata, and I have agreed to escort her here today. I had no idea you’d be here—”
“Or you would not have come,” Fortunata said, laughing heartily. “No, do not deny it. It is, how do you say, written all over your face.”
She turned to Juliet. “Have no fear, Miss Shelby, your lord and Fortunata were never lovers. He knows me only because of my friendship with his friend Fortenbury who—”
“Yes, well, we don’t wish to bore Miss Shelby with that tale,” Deveril interrupted, his own countenance reddening. “Perhaps you might inform your husband we’re here, Signora Boccardo?”
Giving him a wink, the singer bade them be seated while she went to tell her husband that he had guests. Juliet watched bemused as the woman sashayed from the room.
“What interesting friends you have,” she said wryly as the door closed behind the other woman.
“If I’d had any notion Fortunata had married this Boccardo fellow there’s no way I’d have accompanied you here,” he said, giving in to impulse and thrusting his hands through his hair. “I’d heard Fortunata had married, but I had no idea the fellow would turn out to be your Signor Boccardo.”
“Yes, well, I’m glad to have met her,” Juliet said with a laugh. “I shall have to ask Lord Fortenbury about his acquaintance with—”
“You will do no such thing,” he said, interrupting her. “Good Lord, Fort would swoon if you asked him about—”
He was forestalled from continuing by the entrance of a man Juliet presumed to be Signor Boccardo.
“My lord,” the man greeted Alec, before turning to Juliet. “And Miss Shelby!” His expression softened on seeing her, and he hurried forward to take both of her hands in his and kiss her in Continental fashion on both cheeks.
“I have heard so many good things of you from Anna. She says your skill on the pianoforte is unparalleled to any of her other students.”
* * *
He was good-looking in an exotic sort of way. She could tell that he was a passionate man, simply from the exuberance of his manner of speaking. At his praise, Juliet felt herself blush with pleasure. “Thank you so much, signor,” she said. “I know that Anna values your opinion so I am pleased to know she’s spoken to you of me.”
“Anna is the reason we are here,” Alec said firmly, and Juliet was glad of the prompt.
“Yes, signor,” she said, “I’m afraid Anna has disappeared and I wondered if you might have some idea of where she’s gone.”
Gesturing that his guests should take seats, the musician took the chair before the fire, rather incongruous given his height, but he didn’t seem to mind.
“Tell me all,” he said, leaning forward to place his elbows on his knees.
Quickly, Juliet told him about Anna’s strange missives and the arrangements she’d made for Alice. She also told him of her suspicions that Anna’s notes might have been coerced in some way.
When she was finished, Signor Boccardo shook his head in bafflement and Juliet felt her heart sink.
“I had hoped that this was all behind her,” he said, his expressive face creased with worry. “She has the child. And her fiancé, Mr. MacEwan. I thought she was beyond all that.”
He leaned back. “I don’t know how much Anna told you about her life growing up. In the village.”
Juliet frowned. She was beginning to realize just how little she knew about her friend. She’d had no notion that Anna was engaged to be married. The idea that her mentor would make such a decision without telling her was worrying. It made Juliet wonder what other secrets Anna had been keeping from her. It was hardly Signor Boccardo’s fault, however, so she kept her own counsel on the matter. Aloud, she said, “She told me about her father’s strictness if that is what you mean.”
The pianist frowned, his expressive hands clenched. “When I came to Little Wittington, there seemed to me a … how do you say … a curse upon the place. Always there were smiles and happiness, but I could see at once that it was all a lie. The Reverend Turner, he was a hard man. Strict. He disapproved of Anna’s passion for music. Oh, it was all well for her to play like the other young ladies. For show. But he saw the way the squire’s sons looked at her as she played. The way they watched her, the intensity…” He shrugged. “The reverend forbade her from playing. He refused to let her go to the manor house. I am no horseman but even I can see he is like the farmer who shuts the barn after the horse has already escaped.”
“What happened?” Alec asked.
“One night, Anna, she sneaks out of her father’s house and goes to the manor house.” Signor Boccardo shook his head at the memory. “I lived there, which is why I know so much. I am awakened by a scream in the night. The whole house was awakened, and there is Anna in the music room. Her gown is torn, and the squire’s eldest son, he has a red mark on his face.”
Juliet gasped. “He assaulted her? Oh, poor Anna.”
She didn’t say that something similar had happened to her friend in her own father’s household as well. It was just too terrible to speak aloud.
“He said he did not,” the signore said sadly. “I admit I found it hard to believe. He was a good boy. But even good boys can fall prey to temptation. The vicar, though, he believed the boy. And condemned Anna for teasing the young man.”
“Of course he did,” Alec said, disgusted. “That type always does.”
“He cast her out, didn’t he?” Juliet guessed.
“He did,” Signor Boccardo said, nodding. “Even though Squire Ramsey and his family had no reason to spread the tale, the Reverend Turner would not stand for a hint of gossip. I could not let her fend for herself. And she was the most talented of my pupils there. So I brought her with me to London and saw to it that she got a position with a wealthy family.”
“Mine,” Juliet said.
“Yes, Miss Shelby,” the Italian said with a sad smile. “I had hoped that Anna would prosper with your family. But it seems that she is always to be taken advantage of.”
“What happened to her family?” Alec asked. Juliet looked at him. Of course! Perhaps Anna had finally relented and gone to her family for help, just as Juliet had suggested.
But Signor Boccardo’s next words killed that notion. “They died in a fire not long after we left the village,” he said. “Everyone—the vicar, his wife, her sister—they all died.”
Five
Juliet was quiet as Alec led her back out to his curricle. It wasn’t until they were once more driving through the streets of Bloomsbury that she spoke.
“Could Anna have been pursued by the squire’s son?” she asked.
Alec pondered the notion. It was possible, he supposed. Bein
g accused of attempted ravishment would certainly rankle with a young man. Even if the accusation were true.
“It is possible that he feared she would carry the tale with her to London,” he said. “And it doesn’t sound as if Signor Boccardo took any great pains to hide his direction.”
“I wonder if Anna left of her own accord because of some threat from Ramsey or if he came for her and made her write those notes to me to throw me off her trail.”
Alec glanced over and was startled by the determination in Juliet’s face. “Let’s not jump to conclusions,” he cautioned. “We don’t know that this Ramsey fellow has anything to do with Anna’s disappearance. Why don’t you let me send an investigator to Little Wittington to visit the squire’s house? He can determine if Ramsey is even in a position to threaten Anna. For all we know the fellow has moved to the colonies and become a blacksmith.”
“I suppose I can hardly go traipsing about the countryside searching for clues,” she said, “can I?”
“No,” he said with a half grin, awed once more by her pluck. “You really can’t. It isn’t the thing for young ladies to traipse. At least not unmarried ones.”
That seemed to sober her. Dammit, he hadn’t meant to remind her of Turlington. She had enough to worry about.
“I promise that as soon as I hear something from my man I will let you know,” he told her, glancing over to let her see that he was sincere.
That seemed to placate her. “Thank you, my lord, for bringing me to see Signor Boccardo today. And thank you for helping me look for Anna. I know you are doing it because you feel some sort of obligation on your uncle’s behalf, but whatever the reason I’m grateful.”
That his uncle had ceased to be a factor in his continued assistance, he didn’t bother telling her. Letting her think of him as a self-interested party was better for both their sakes.
* * *
“Perhaps you could show us something a bit more daring, Madame Celeste?” Cecily asked the modiste in what her cousins were coming to know as her “duchess tone.” “I realize that Miss Shelby is yet a debutante, but surely she can wear something with a bit of dash that won’t be too terribly scandalous.”
How to Romance a Rake Page 8
