She wondered what there was between the men.
“Nothing fuels his resolve so much as spleen and depravity,” he continued.
“I am sure you are right,” Miss Herley agreed sadly. “But I warrant you that Lord Antoine intends on nothing in the future but to live lawfully. I am certain he wished to—” and here her voice broke again, “to get a special license so that we could marry. I am hopeful that his helping me has made my parents view him with more favour.” She looked at him pleadingly.
Mornay walked up to Miss Herley so he could see clearly into her eyes. “Tell me, Miss Herley; are you convinced of his worthiness? Do you have any doubts regarding his intentions whatsoever?”
He studied her face and eyes keenly as the question hung in the air.
“I trust him, sir. I’d trust him with my life!”
Mrs. Bentley came forward. “Forgive me, Miss Herley,” she said, “but I must speak.” To Mr. Mornay she said, “The constable told me both brothers had a long list of offenses against the Crown. What do you make of that?”
Miss Herley watched Mr. Mornay, fearful of what he would make of it, indeed.
“Is that news to you, Miss Herley?” he asked.
She hung her head. “No. I know everything, I daresay, there is to know about Antoine’s past activities.” Here she raised her head again, and her eyes were glowing with conviction. “That is all in the past, sir! Unless we are on the street starving, I am convinced there is nothing which could induce his lordship to act in such a manner again!” To Mrs. Bentley, she added, “He rescued me, I tell you! He’d have done the same for Ariana!”
Ariana walked up to the girl and gently took her arm. “Come, Lavinia, here we are, standing in the hall all this time. Join us for breakfast in the morning room.” She met the eyes of her beloved, looking at him with her own silent plea. She hoped he would help Lavinia, as he had said.
On the way, despite her distress, Lavinia could not help noting that the house appeared to be in quite a shambles. “What has happened, here?” she asked, but Ariana did not wish to supply the information that her own hand had caused the mess.
In the morning room they all sat at table, but Miss Herley was unable to relax.
Sir,” she said in a voice fraught with tension, “I am sorry to ask you, but I must know. Will you help us? Do you intend to give us your aid?”
He put down his coffee and looked at her squarely. “I said I would, did I not?”
Mrs. Bentley piped in, “You may not be able to free the man, Mornay, not even you.” Ariana frowned at her aunt. To say that in front of Miss Herley—now, of all times! Lavinia nearly dropped her cup. “Do you think so?” she asked earnestly. “That Antoine’s innocence and help in this matter shan’t be enough to gain his freedom?”
Mrs. Bentley shrugged and met her eyes. “I do not know.”
Mr. Mornay didn’t betray the least concern, but asked, “Did his lordship say what started their hare-brained scheme against me?”
“He said, for his part, it began on account of your interference between us.” She looked at Ariana, and couldn’t help but to smile. “That made him realize his love for me! When he was crossed in the matter!” She looked back to Mr. Mornay. “But later, after sobering up, he came to view the scheme differently and wished to drop the plan but Lord Wingate refused!”
Mr. Mornay fell into a pensive gaze. He finished eating and stood up. “You’re certain he’s at Newgate?”
Miss Herley looked to Mrs. Bentley, who offered, “That was where the constable said they would take him.”
“Was it not unfair,” Lavinia added, “that when he called to bring the news of my safety, at my bidding, that he was snatched into custody?”
“His lordship was discovering the consequences of his past choices,” put in Mrs. Bentley. “But if he rescued you, then he has my gratitude. I felt sick with the thought that harm had come to you on my account, Miss Herley.”
“On your account?” she asked.
“Because I was too foolish to come here with Ariana in the first place! It would have settled all. You would have not suffered your abduction and there would be no rumours of an elopement,” she said, looking in the direction of the street, where traffic still moved more slowly than usual as everyone stopped to gape at the house of the famous eloper.
“Nevertheless, Wingate’s plans would still be in place,” Mornay said. “And regarding the rumour—if the marquess hears it, perhaps he may withdraw his claws, at least for the time being. Long enough for me to get to him before he tries again to get to us.” He went round the table and gave Ariana a kiss on the hand. “I’ll return as soon as I can,” he said, looking into her eyes. Turning to Lavinia he said, “In the meantime, remain here as Miss Forsythe’s companion, if you would.” To Mrs.Bentley he said, “Would you prefer to be in your own house, now Miss Herley is here? I can take you home if you like.”
“I would prefer to take Ariana with me to my house, sir! Her family will be arriving any time, and they will find it most irregular that she is here. No, she must come with me, or I believe I’m staying here as well.”
“Then you are my guest,” he said, settling the matter. “I’ll smooth over any concerns the Forsythes have regarding this arrangement.”
But Mrs. Bentley frowned. So much for putting her foot down with the man. “Do give word to your house guards that they must allow Mr. Pellham entrance, if he comes.”
“The prince’s men,” he said, “are coming with me, but I’ll tell Freddy.”
“Obliged.”
“Be careful, darling!” Ariana cried, alarmed that he felt it incumbent on him to take the soldiers. He stopped and bent down to kiss her cheek. “I will. Stay in the house. Do not cross me in this.”
“I have no wish to cross you in anything, sir.”
Miss Herley smiled into her tea cup.
Mrs. Bentley sighed.
At Newgate it wasn’t difficult for Mr. Mornay to get an audience with the prisoner. To his repulsion, he found that Holliwell hadn’t enough money to get into the state area, but was in the commons. Further, the area for felons was past the women’s and the debtor’s sections. By the time he finally came upon the man, he’d had more than his fill of odours and sorry looking prisoners.
Mr. Mornay had paid the warden so he could sit in a quiet spot with the prisoner. After they’d been shown the way down a narrow corridor and brought to a small, empty cell, Lord Antoine looked interestedly at his visitor. Mr. Horton, Mornay’s steward, had remained at the entrance of the place, ready to make another financial transaction if necessary.
Mr. Mornay met Holliwell’s guarded eyes but said nothing. He was determined to ascertain the man’s character by his own words and actions rather than relying on Miss Herley’s opinion. She may have been sincere, but women were known to be sincerely wrong about men, weren’t they?
“What is your business with me?” Holliwell asked.
“I might ask you the same,” came the smooth reply.
The prisoner turned his head. “I have no business with you, sir, that I know of.” His face was bland.
“I believe you do, sir. You and your brother have twice attempted to abduct my future wife. That gives us business.”
Antoine made a small grimace but was silent for a few long seconds. Then he said, “So you’re seeking a confession? To ensure that they hang me? Surely you realize I shan’t say a word to further incriminate myself. At least I’ve a chance at transportation then!”
“That is not my errand.”
This got the man’s attention. “Then what?”
“You’ll need to be frank with me. I need to understand the situation entirely. Is it true that the scheme against Miss Forsythe was for revenge? For my interfering with your hopes of Miss Herley?”
The young man gave him a resentful stare. “If I answer that, it’s as good as a confession! You’ll have me hung by the neck before I can say Jack Robinson!”
“I thoug
ht we settled that; I am not here to see you hung.”
They stared at each other.
“Was the cause of your revenge my interference in your hopes?”
“Yes, dash it! But I was in my cups! I thought better of it, afterward.”
“Did you? And when did that happen? Miss Forsythe was twice approached and once taken. That doesn’t support your thinking better of it.”
“I realized it was sheer folly shortly after the night of our first attempt. I’ve broken with my brother over the thing. He is acting entirely on his own. When he sent that pigeon Whiddington, I had nothing to do with it.”
“You knew about it, though.”
There was a pause. “I knew something of it, yes.”
“You could have warned me.”
“You have not been my friend, sir!” This, with great feeling.
“Neither have I been your enemy.”
Another few seconds of silence passed. Holliwell said, “It seems you understand the whole business. So what do you hope to accomplish here? What do you want with me?”
“Explain to me your disappointment when you lost the prospect of marriage to Miss Herley.”
“Eh? Why I was disappointed? That is what you came here to discover?”
“It is part of what I hope to learn, yes. Miss Herley’s family is not wealthy; she has little to offer you; tell me why her loss prompted such a drastic revenge.”
“I can’t see how it signifies, sir, but I will tell you!” He swallowed, thinking. He’d been taking restless steps in no particular direction throughout the conversation, but he stopped now and stared fully at Mr. Mornay. “My brother undoubtedly has his own reasons for wanting to cross you; I do not know what they are. For my part, yes, I wanted revenge. I wanted to marry Miss Herley.” He swallowed again, and his eyes roamed the walls, while he shook his head as if deciding what to say. Finally his eyes met the other man’s. “I love her, you see. It is that simple.”
“And your intentions were honorable?”
“Yes!” His face changed. “Not at first, I grant. But when I came to realize my feelings for her—I was astonished, you know—I had only honourable intentions. Unfortunately, I could not accompany them with an honourable name! I know why you did what you did, and I cannot fault you for it. If I had been in your place, I should do the same. I have brought my own troubles upon me, I know it only too well.”
There was silence. Mr. Mornay eyed the young man keenly. “Do you still wish to marry Miss Herley?”
The prisoner gave a bitter laugh. “Yes, if she’ll move to Newgate! No, sir, I fear that avenue has been closed to me for good. I saved her from my brother, and that is my only consolation as I sit here. I did something right for once in my life—and now I pay for it, by God!”
“You are not here to pay for doing something right. You are here for all the wrongs you’ve done in the past.”
Antoine merely looked at him, fuming inwardly.
Mr. Mornay took a breath, looked out the barred window, and then back to the young man. “I can get you out of here, you know.”
His look changed. He was disarmed, but wary. “You would do that? For what in return?”
“For your help in assuring that your brother will cease being a threat to my bride. Further, I can convince the Herleys to allow your suit with their daughter. But for that you must promise to live a decent life, henceforward.”
“I want to do that, sir! I would like nothing better! I give you my word!” The young man’s response had been so strong and earnest and heartfelt that Mornay almost smiled. But there was more to settle.
“You cannot game away your allowance.”
“I have no allowance,” he admitted sulkily. “I don’t see how we’ll manage, if you must know.”
“I will arrange one for you.”
Lord Antoine was speechless with surprise—and wonder.
“I will allot a stipend to your wife. If you squander it by gaming or being often in your cups, it will cease. You will be ruined. Do you understand?”
“I do! I don’t know what to say. Your generosity and goodness to me…to us…I cannot fathom it!”
“One more thing,” Mornay added. “I’ll expect you to be at my service, if I ever require it.”
“I can live with that,” he responded.
“And one thing more,” added the Paragon, having just thought of it.
“Yes?”
“You must faithfully attend church in whatever parish you reside.”
Antoine was silent. He smiled a little. “Indeed?”
“Indeed.”
“Do you attend yourself, may I ask?”
“I do.”
The man looked surprised, but nodded. “Very well. You have my word.”
Mr. Mornay hesitated as yet another requirement came to mind. Would the lad stand for one thing more? He had to try. “I hate to say it, but I have thought of one more thing.”
Now Holliwell looked wary, but he recognized the humour of it and said, “You’ll have to put them in writing for me to remember them all at this rate.”
“I most certainly will. All the arrangements will be in a legal document for referral at any time.”
“What is it?” He almost held his breath. It must be some great thing, he felt, for he noted how Mornay was hesitating, choosing his words.
“When the matter is settled with your brother, meaning, he is no longer a threat to me, I want you to agree to study certain Scriptures with me. Perhaps pray as well. A salvation prayer.”
Lord Antoine just gaped at him for a moment. “Did you say pray, sir?”
“I did.”
“Pray—! As in, ‘Our Father, who art in heaven.?’ That kind of prayer?”
“Something like that.” Mornay’s eyes softened. “A man asked me to pray with him not long ago, you know. And it had an amazing effect on me.”
His lordship was very tempted to laugh but did not want to insult his deliverer. He turned to him with a grin, however, and said, “I think I can manage that.”
“Good.” Mr. Mornay held out his hand and then smiled that rare, handsome smile that most people found irresistible. Lord Antoine was no exception and he smiled back, vastly relieved, and shook Mr. Mornay’s hand effusively.
“I don’t know how to thank you!”
“I’ll give you an opportunity, my boy. You must help me locate your brother and settle whatever matter he holds against me.”
“Are you not aware of it, sir? What he has against you?
Mornay sighed. “I believe it must be the fact that I was present on an occasion when he lost a fortune, some thirty thousand pounds.”
“I remember that!”
“Do you? Do you also remember that your sibling tried to kill the man who’d won against him rather than surrender his losses?”
Holliwell shook his head. “No, sir. He said nothing of that to me. What stopped him?” And as soon as he asked, he knew. The look on Mornay’s face confirmed it. “I see.”
“I could hardly allow him to kill a man to avoid a debt of honour.”
“Of course not.”
“Your brother has blamed me for the loss of his circumstances since then, though I wasn’t a part of the game, and God knows I never encourage a man to play so deeply in his pocket.”
“Julian knows no restraint when it comes to gaming, sir. That won’t have been the first time he lost a large sum, nor was it the last. I fail to see why he has set upon you for revenge.”
“Very likely it was nothing more than opportunity. Your grudge against me coincided with his own, and it was a scheme he thought you would share in.” He looked at him gravely. “But he doesn’t give it up without you. He keeps to his purpose, eh?”
The young man nodded. “It appears so. He even took Miss Herley, the blackguard!”
“We must halt his activities. Do I have your word that you will help me find him? I will push to see him transported, of course. I doubt there will be any settlin
g with him.”
As they walked back, joined by the man who had escorted them down the dank corridor and provided the light, Antoine warned, “Beware, sir! If Julian thinks you’ll pay him off, he’ll accept the arrangement. Only you can’t trust him in future. If he games it away, or spends it, he’ll want more.”
“I have no intention of settling financially in that way, with him.”
“’E stops, ’ere, guvnor.” The voice of the jail keeper startled them. They shook hands.
“I’ll see to your release at once.” Mornay turned to go, but Antoine had a troubled expression and said, “Sir?”
Mr. Mornay turned to face him.
“I am very grateful for your help, believe me, but I must know. What made you trust me?
What made you willing to settle with me so generously as you are, when you won’t do so for my brother?”
Mornay thought for a moment. “I believe it was Miss Herley. She spoke so eloquently of your turning a new leaf.”
Twenty minutes later, after which a bank note had changed hands and papers were signed, the young prisoner was fetched and presented to Mr. Mornay. Lord Antoine was a free man.
Chapter Twenty-Six
In the second parlour where Ariana and Miss Herley were engrossed in rapturous conversation about men and marriage and other such taboo subjects, a sound at the door caused an abrupt silence. Ariana looked at the double doors of the room, saying, “I’m afraid our conversation will have to wait, Lavinia.”
“Alas, yes.” But then she gasped, and covered her mouth with one hand.
“What is it?”
“I forgot! I never told my family I was coming here! I was afraid they’d prohibit it.”
“We’ll send a messenger,” Ariana replied.
“I have no money for such.”
“I’ll have Freddy do it. He must keep a purse for such things, all butlers do. Doesn’t your man?”
Before she could answer, Mrs. Bentley had opened a door and was already speaking. “My dear! Haines has just sent to inform me that your family has arrived. They are waiting for us at my house. We cannot demand they come here. Let us go at once and, if Mr. Mornay wishes you to spend the night beneath his roof, then so be it. But for now, we must go! The carriage is at the curb. Quickly now, and be smart about it!”
The House in Grosvenor Square Page 28
