Checkmate, My Lord

by Tracey Devlyn

  Catherine recalled the man’s twitching eye, awful smile, and vile confessions and decided her mother was correct. “I suppose, though my stomach is not happy about it.”

  Twenty-one

  “You can’t be serious, Chief,” Lord Danforth said. “She picked everyone out?”

  Sebastian stared into the empty fire grate, not looking up at the small group of Nexus agents assembled in the drawing room. Had he done so, the mixture of irritation and pride alighting his eyes would have confused them all.

  “Everyone but you and Bingham, and that’s only because you were both walking the perimeter.” Many years ago, Sebastian had hired Bingham, along with Dinks and Jack, to watch over Cora while she was on assignment in France. Bingham acted the coachman, Jack the footman, and Dinks the lady’s maid. The quartet had become close, each protecting the others like beloved family members.

  “No one ever pays attention to servants,” Danforth grumbled.

  “I have come to realize Mrs. Ashcroft isn’t like most people.”

  His statement was met with a thick fog of silence. He glanced up then and found four pairs of fascinated eyes on him. Danforth looked more appalled. Lord Helsford stared without expression. Cora appeared on the verge of happy tears. And Dinks chortled until she snorted.

  “I’m doomed.” Danforth groaned and slumped back in his chair.

  Cora sent her brother a sharp look. “What are you nattering on about?”

  “If a woman can steal the chief’s heart,” Danforth nodded toward Sebastian, “there is no hope for my continued bachelorhood.”

  “Ethan!” Cora scolded.

  Sebastian’s muscles coiled into bands of steel. Although Danforth had a tendency to blurt out whatever was on his mind, inappropriately so at times, the man’s instincts tended toward genius. Which, in this particular case, did not bode well for Sebastian. “I assure you, my heart is where it should be.”

  He resumed their former discussion. “In addition to identifying each of you, Mrs. Ashcroft noted an unfamiliar tall, black-haired woman. Anyone else notice her?”

  Danforth perked up. “Black hair, you say?”

  Nodding, Sebastian asked, “What do you know?”

  “Nothing for certain.” The viscount’s gaze turned inward. “But that description matches the maid who helped nurse me back to good health.” His brow clenched together. “Except the tall part. That’s not how I would describe her.”

  “You were also flat on your back,” Helsford said, “with a concussion and a number of other injuries hampering your judgment.”

  “True.”

  “Let us set aside the black-haired maid for now,” Sebastian said. “Catherine will be here soon, and I think it best to keep your presence a secret for a while.”

  “Are you sure?” Cora asked. “She might like knowing help has arrived.”

  “You’re no doubt correct,” Sebastian said. “But she’s not accustomed to prevarication. Ignorance will protect her while interacting with her gaolers.”

  Danforth interjected, “What next? Track down Cochran, or wait for him to come to us?”

  “Find him,” Sebastian said. “He’s somewhere close. The three of you, go into the village and ask around.”

  “Guy and Ethan can interrogate the villagers without me,” Cora said. “I should like to stay here and keep watch.”

  “I don’t need you underfoot.” Or nosing into my affaire with Catherine.

  “You won’t even know I’m here.”

  He would know, but let the topic go. To Helsford, he said, “You delivered my message to Reeves?”

  “I had to leave it with his clerk Bradford. The superintendent is attending a family crisis at the moment. Bradford expected him to return this afternoon.”

  “Very well. Report back here tomorrow morning.”

  As they began filing out of the drawing room, Sebastian halted Danforth. “Stay in Showbury.”

  The younger man’s face hardened. “I learned my lesson well last time, Chief. I will be where you tell me to be.” He strode from the room.

  Helsford bent to kiss Cora’s temple. “Don’t do anything foolish—”

  She leveled her blue-green eyes on her betrothed, retribution in their depths.

  “Until I return,” he finished.

  She waved her hand toward the door. “Go play nursemaid to my brother, while the chief and I develop a plan to bring down our enemy.”

  A feminine snort sounded from the back of the room.

  “Yes, dear.” Helsford winked at the buxom lady’s maid. “Behave.”

  Dinks laughed. “I’ll work on it, my lord.” She sobered. “Watch over that hothead for us.”

  “You can be sure of it,” Helsford said.

  “And that shite-scooping mongrel,” she muttered. “Watch over him, too.”

  Helsford shared a look with Cora. “Is that your way of asking me to give Bingham a kiss for you?”

  The maid’s face heated. “Bah!” She marched away.

  “Do you think they’ll ever declare their feelings for one another?” Helsford asked.

  “No,” Cora said, smiling. “They’re having too much fun tormenting each other.”

  Helsford nodded, then turned to Sebastian. “I’ll send word of any developments.” After one last long look at Cora, he followed in Danforth’s wake.

  A prickle along his neck warned Sebastian that he had become the focus of determined feminine attention. He glanced longingly after the other two men.

  “Do you love her?” Cora asked in a soft voice.

  Having no intention of answering her question—for he didn’t know the answer—he sent her a withering glare, which she ignored.

  “If you do,” she said, “don’t lose her to this cause. One lifetime is not enough.”

  She would know. Of all his agents, Cora would be most familiar with that particular sentiment. “In case you have forgotten, she is newly widowed and not in a position, nor I doubt inclined, to accept the suit of another man.” He speared the crystal decanters a glance.

  “Then wait for her.”

  Sebastian set his jaw, irritated with himself for even engaging in this fruitless conversation. “I have not acted the gentleman with her.”

  “Start over,” Cora pressed. “Court her as you would any potential wife.”

  Wife. The word caressed the rough edges of his soul. “We are too far beyond courtship.”

  A charged silence followed his statement, and Sebastian saw the two women share a glance.

  “There’s nothing for it then, my lord.” Dinks smacked her thigh and marched over to stand in front of the decanters filled with amber temptation. “You must seduce her. To do that, you’re going to need all your wits.”

  “You go too far, Dinks.”

  She braced her hands on broad hips. “You can give me the boot after you woo your lady. Until then…” The maid widened her stance, and her gaze became even more defiant.

  “Dinks is right.” Cora broke into the pair’s visual duel. “Keep Mrs. Ashcroft in bed until she promises you forever. From the looks she was casting your way today, I would say she’s already halfway—if not entirely—in love with you.”

  In an uncharacteristic move, Sebastian tunneled his fingers through his hair. “Even if that were true, Cora, she wouldn’t have me.”

  “Why on earth would you say such a thing?”

  “Because her marriage with Ashcroft was nothing short of disastrous, and any union with me would be ten times worse. Not only that, anyone associated with me becomes a target, or worse, leverage.” He caught her gaze. “As you well know.”

  “Dinks,” Cora said, “would you give us a moment?”

  “Certainly.” The lady’s maid sent Sebastian a warning glare before hastening from the room.

  “She
does understand that I pay her wages, right?” Sebastian asked.

  “She’s worried about you. As am I.”

  “There’s no need.” He moved to the opposite side of the room from the brandy.

  “More than likely, our enemy has already discerned your affection for Mrs. Ashcroft. There is no safer place for her than by your side.”

  “Where did you learn to be so ruthless?”

  “I was mentored by the very best.”

  He sighed. “Let us focus our attention on how we will keep the Ashcroft ladies safe until this is all over, shall we?”

  “What will you do?” she asked. “When it’s over?”

  “Return to London.”

  “And what of Mrs. Ashcroft?”

  Her intrusive questions made him think about things he had no wish to think about. Catherine and he had an agreement to end their affaire once he returned to the city. Nothing had changed to alter their plans. Nothing. “I suspect she will continue on as before.” His stomach cramped into a tight ball.

  “Have you never considered giving up the Nexus?” she asked.

  Every day since returning to Bellamere. “Why would I surrender my only sense of purpose?”

  “You don’t mean that.”

  “Why wouldn’t I?” The words emerged harsh. “I have no other interests, no hobbies or expensive peccadillos. I live, eat, breathe, sleep this fight against Napoleon’s domination. Someone with my specialized talents is of little use anywhere else.”

  “I disagree, sir,” Cora said, rising. “For I have always known you were meant to be more than a mentor or guardian or even a chief of the Nexus.” She gazed upon him with gentle, loving eyes. “You were meant to be a father and a husband.”

  Twenty-two

  Catherine rubbed the growing ache in her stomach. It was stronger now, verging on nausea. At first, she thought the unpleasant sensation was nothing more than nerves. After all, a country mother could only handle so much deceit, death, and threat before falling victim to such feminine frailty. But she was not experiencing a bout of anxiety. No, these symptoms were darker, graver. They bespoke foreboding and danger. Death. The warning flashed through her mind, sharp and clear.

  She buried her nose in the thin layer of linen covering Sebastian’s chest and inhaled. His familiar scent, his silent strength, and his willingness to just hold her for the last hour had done nothing to assuage the dread crawling in her stomach. “I’m sorry,” she said, “but I must return home.” Unfolding her body, she rose from his lap. “I cannot shake this feeling that something is wrong.”

  The moment she had arrived, she’d conveyed her conversation with Silas to Sebastian. Although disturbed by the news, he had not been surprised by her gaoler’s revelations.

  Sebastian pushed out of the cushioned high-back chair to stand beside her. “I have men watching over your family.” He slid a large, warm hand around the side of her neck, his thumb smoothed across her cheek.

  “The last time I experienced this kind of unrelenting anxiety,” she said, “I found Sophie stuck in a tree with a feral dog prowling beneath.”

  His other hand came up to frame her face and then he kissed her. A long, slow, achingly tender kiss. A kiss that wove soft fingers of longing into the midst of her fear.

  Lifting his head, he said, “Then it is a sensation not to be ignored.” He moved away and began tucking in the tail of his shirtsleeves.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Coming with you.”

  “I thought we were to carry on as before—at least for another day or two.”

  He grasped her hand and towed her from his bedchamber. “It’s always best not to draw undue attention, that is true. However, your gaolers cannot fault me for seeing you home.”

  Fifteen minutes later, they guided their horses down the path connecting their two properties. With unerring accuracy, Sebastian guided them along the same route she’d taken since the onset of their affaire. He even selected the narrow deer path she preferred, rather than forging down the wider track that skimmed along the edge of a thirty-foot ridge. In the daytime, she enjoyed the view such a path provided. At night, she liked something a little more stable. “Have you been following me home?”

  “What gave you that impression?”

  Did the man never provide a direct answer? “Your familiarity with a route others would pass by without notice.”

  “I might have ventured along this path a time or two.”

  She narrowed her eyes on his back. “Still don’t trust me with your secrets, my lord?”

  He threw her a heavy-lidded glance over his shoulder. “The same could be said of you.”

  “What do you mean?” she asked. “I have told you every detail of Cochran’s plan—at least, what I know of it.”

  He whipped his big, black horse about, making Gypsy toss her head in annoyance. “I’m not speaking of Cochran’s plan.” His blue-gray eyes caressed her features with a thoroughness that left her breathless and exposed.

  She lowered her gaze to Gypsy’s mane, afraid he saw too much. “Pray enlighten me, sir.”

  Silence reigned through the dense woodland for several uncomfortable seconds. Then he said, “Some secrets are best left unrevealed, don’t you think? Enlightenment can sometimes complicate an uncomplicated situation.”

  He definitely saw too much. The back of her throat ached with unshed tears. Had she really allowed herself to hope? To think that their time together had burrowed beneath his skin and taken hold, as it had hers? Stupid, stupid, lonely widow.

  “Wise as always, my lord.” She squared her shoulders and then met his gaze. “Perhaps we should carry on.”

  He hesitated but a moment before turning toward Winter’s Hollow again. If Sebastian’s pace was somewhat faster than before, Catherine dared not remark upon it. One reminder of their agreement in a five-minute time span was more than enough.

  They spent the rest of their journey in contemplative silence, a circumstance both painful and welcome. Once they reached the edge of her garden, they dismounted and tied off the horses. Grasping her hand, he led her along the garden wall, pausing several times to listen. Then he circled around to the east side of the manor. All the while, his gaze never stopped moving, never stopped searching. The closer he maneuvered them to their destination, the more focused he became.

  Rather than continuing on to the front entrance, he stopped at the corner, pressing them up against the rough stone of the manor. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

  He squeezed her hand in warning and then peered around the corner. When he shifted back, his gaze sought hers. “Do you trust me?”

  The planes of his face appeared cast in granite and his beautiful eyes had transformed into spheres of ice. She nodded, afraid to speak.

  He lifted their clasped hands and kissed the tips of her fingers. “You mentioned once that Silas greets you in the hall each night.”

  “Yes.”

  “You must find out if he’s there.”

  “Where will you be?”

  “My men are not at their posts,” he said in a calm voice. “I must try to locate them.”

  Her heart bashed against the cage of her chest. The dread she’d been carrying intensified to a crushing degree. Sophie. She pushed away from the stone wall. Sebastian dragged her back and placed his index finger over her protesting lips.

  Then he directed his gaze to the curtain of darkness. In a voice barely above a whisper, he said, “Raven, to me.”

  Catherine’s eyes widened when a short-haired woman wearing exotic, silken breeches emerged from the shadows.

  The young woman stopped beside them. “Chief. Mrs. Ashcroft.”

  “Did you see any signs of them?” he asked the newcomer.

  “No, sir.”

  Without conscious thought, Catherine leaned into Sebastian
’s body. The scar curving around the woman’s left cheek triggered a vague memory, but her mind wanted to focus on nothing but getting to Sophie and her mother. “Sebastian, please—”

  “Catherine,” he said. “This is my former ward, Cora. She will accompany you inside while I check on things out here. You may trust her as you trust me.”

  Everything came together in a flash of images. The maid serving oysters, the servants she didn’t recognize at her daughter’s party, the heart-wrenching note scribed by Cora-belle. The Nexus had come.

  To Cora, he said, “One of her gaolers might be awaiting you just inside. Dispose of him if you must; however, your mission is to locate the child and grandmother.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “If I do not return in ten minutes, go to Helsford and get the women to safety. Understood?”

  The younger woman’s lips compressed, but she nodded her agreement.

  Sebastian’s thumb swiped over the ridges of Catherine’s knuckles before nudging her out of the shadows. “Go.”

  “But—”

  “Go, Cat,” he said again. “Listen to Cora.”

  “Come, Mrs. Ashcroft,” Cora said in a gentle, yet firm voice. “Let us make sure your family is well.”

  The landscape of Catherine’s world shifted and tilted in so many directions and with such velocity that she found herself following a stranger, who wore a contraption around her midsection housing an assortment of lethal weaponry, without complaint. Accustomed to making her own decisions, she would have found her current dilemma laughable if it wasn’t all so terrifying.

  Before rounding the corner, Catherine glanced back to find Sebastian’s luminescent eyes on her. The situation was reminiscent of their time in the woods while searching for Meghan McCarthy. A shiver tracked down her spine.

  Drawing in a deep breath, she followed Raven into God-knew-what.

  ***

  The moment Catherine disappeared from view, Sebastian forced his clenched fist open, releasing some of the tension of his decision to part ways with her. With Danforth and Helsford in the village, it was left to him to secure their perimeter. After Cora’s recent encounter with the French, he did not worry about her ability to protect Catherine. She was as capable as any of his male agents, though he would have preferred not to have involved her, especially so soon after the difficulties of her last mission.