The Scandalous Lady Sandford (Lost Ladies of London Book 3)

by Adele Clee

  “Aubrey can do me no harm. Words do not hurt.” The lack of conviction in Lillian’s tone was evident. One man’s comments could not penetrate her steely reserve, and yet a barrage of snide whispers proved as painful as being pelted with pebbles. “But you may accompany me as far as the steps.”

  “Will you not allow me to question the prisoner?”

  Mary sighed. “Mackenzie, have you not heard what your mistress said?”

  The Scot’s eyes softened whenever he gazed upon the fiery-haired woman at Lillian’s side. Since hearing about the men’s distrust of Doyle’s wife, Lillian had welcomed Mary to the castle. From the woman’s caring and friendly manner, one would suspect she had a heart as large as Mackenzie’s.

  “Can I help it if I want to protect the lass?” Mackenzie implored.

  Mary stepped forward and placed a hand on his arm. “We will wait at the bottom of the steps, and keep Lady Ravenscroft in our sights at all times.” Mary cast a sidelong glance, looking for Lillian’s approval.

  “What I have to say to Aubrey is a private matter.” She would ask about Vane. Had Aubrey seen him during those chaotic hours at Vauxhall? A vision of her brother’s frightened face entered her mind. He must be beside himself with worry. “But you can wait with Mary.”

  Mackenzie nodded, and his gaze flicked to the dainty hand still resting on his sleeve. “I have the key in my pocket.” He tapped his chest. “Shall we head there now and get this matter over with?”

  Mary’s hand slipped from Mackenzie’s sleeve. “You’ll need a cloak, my lady. Shall I fetch the one Ursula found for you?”

  Having arrived at the island with nothing but the clothes on her back, Nancy and Ursula had begged and borrowed the necessary items to last until alternative arrangements were made.

  “Thank you, Mary. We will wait for you here.”

  They watched Mary hurry away.

  “Mary has been your shadow for the last few days,” Mackenzie said. “Offering her work at the castle shows the men they’ve nothing to fear. For that, I’m eternally grateful to you, lass.”

  “Her husband has abandoned her, and I’ve never been one to condemn a person for someone else’s mistake.”

  Mackenzie inclined his head respectfully. “Happen that’s why his lordship is besotted with you.”

  A weak chuckle escaped. “His lordship married me out of necessity. Surely you know that.”

  “I’m not so sure. From the tales he’s told, I’d say he’s admired you since you were a girl. He said that you once told him that it’s not the stars that hold one’s destiny but ourselves.”

  Lillian’s heart skipped a beat. “I did say that, although I cannot claim the credit for Shakespeare’s wise words.”

  “Either way, his lordship holds your opinion in high regard.”

  “We were friends once.” During which time she hoped for more. She’d thought of him many times over the years. Would things have been different were it not for his father’s poor investment? “And perhaps we’ve found a way to become friends again.”

  “Friends?” Mackenzie raised a brow. “After the way his lordship kissed you, I’d say there’s more to it than that.”

  A blush warmed her cold cheeks. They were more than friends. She’d felt an intense burst of affection for him the moment he entered her body. “Oh, Mackenzie, do you think he’s all right?” The panic she’d kept at bay for days erupted. “What if he’s had an accident? What if he’s hurt?”

  Mackenzie pursed his lips and patted her arm. “There now, lass. His lordship has sailed the worst storms I’ve ever had the misfortune to witness and lived to tell the tale. And he’s got Freddie Fortune with him. The man’s a walking monument to luck.” Mackenzie gave a sly wink. “Although I imagine his lordship took Freddie along to make use of his light fingers if you take my meaning.”

  Was this what it felt like to be a sailor’s wife? Four days felt like a lifetime. The agonising wait proved all-consuming. How had she gone from wanting to punch Fabian for dragging her to the desolate island to wanting to feel cocooned in his warm embrace?

  “I need a distraction, Mackenzie.” Errant thoughts filled her head. Would Fabian be different when he returned? After listening to her story, did he think less of her than before? Good Lord. These strange emotions had turned her into a wreck. “I need something to occupy my mind while he’s gone.”

  “Leave it to me. If it’s a distraction you seek, I know just the thing. These men are adept at keeping themselves entertained during long voyages.”

  Mary returned to the bailey, clutching a dark blue cloak. “Here, my lady, this should keep the chill at bay.” Mary was as attentive as Mackenzie. She draped the garment around Lillian’s shoulders and fastened the ties at the collar as if Lillian were incapable of performing the task herself.

  With a look of wonder, Mackenzie studied Mary’s red hair but then caught himself and mumbled incoherently. “We’d better see what that dirty beggar has to say for himself.”

  “Then lead the way.”

  A narrow flight of steps gave access to the dungeon. Mackenzie insisted on descending first. Perhaps he thought to scare away the rats, or to seek confirmation that the prisoner hadn’t escaped during the night.

  The temperature plummeted. The putrid stench in the air, a disgusting concoction of faeces, sweat and stagnant water, assaulted her nostrils. The urge to retch proved great.

  “I trust you’ve given the man a chamber pot.” Lillian put her hand to her mouth as it brought much-needed relief. “This is not medieval England after all.”

  “Aye, we’ve afforded him every luxury.” Mackenzie coughed to hide a chuckle.

  Lillian stared down the dim corridor. A torch flickered in the sconce, casting eerie shadows over the damp walls.

  “Are you sure you don’t want me to accompany you, lass?”

  Mary tutted. She’d chastised Mackenzie numerous times for his familiarity. “Yes, my lady, I can walk by your side if it pleases you.”

  A low moan drifted through the darkness, followed by the loud clank of metal hitting metal. It echoed through the cramped chamber like a death knell.

  “You Scottish bastard, let me out of this damn cage.” The gruff voice came from a chamber further along the corridor. “Show yourself.” The clanging continued.

  “I swear I shall whip that man’s bahooky with a birch if he doesn’t keep his filthy mouth shut,” Mackenzie muttered through gritted teeth. He turned to Lillian. “Don’t go down there, my lady.”

  Lillian squared her shoulders. “I shall be fine. The man is behind bars. It was never his intention to do me harm, only to spy.”

  “Och, I doubt the Devil himself could deter you from your course when you’ve got your mind set.”

  “Did Lord Ravenscroft not tell you? The Sandfords are known for their stubbornness and impatience.” Gathering her courage, Lillian began her slow march towards the cell. She ignored the squeaking and scuttling to her left. If she screamed, Mackenzie would come running.

  “Do you hear me?” Aubrey shouted.

  Lillian drew closer. The orange glow from the torch cast a dim light over the figure standing at the cell door. The iron poles were the only thing preventing the rogue escaping.

  Gnarled hands gripped the bars and tried to shake them loose. “Highlander? Come show me your pretty skirt.”

  “It’s not Mackenzie.” Lillian came to a halt outside the prison but remained more than an arm’s length away. “It is Lady Ravenscroft.”

  Aubrey pressed his scarred face to the bars. Purple bruises lined his eyes and his nose looked crooked. The ugly snarl vanished. “Please, my lady, tell them to release me. There are rats and insects aplenty down here, and a man can’t sleep on a damp floor.”

  The man should have thought about that before he came trespassing. “I’m afraid you must wait until my husband returns. He alone has the power to release you.”

  Aubrey’s nostrils flared, and he shook the bars so violently on
e could imagine him wringing a person’s neck with ease.

  “But if you answer my questions,” Lillian continued, “I shall do what I can to persuade Lord Ravenscroft to set you free.”

  “What good is that? I could be locked in here for months.”

  “He’s expected back in the next day or so.” The lie helped to allay her fears. “My brother is also due to arrive soon, and let me tell you, he is not as forgiving as the Raven.”

  “Trevane?” Aubrey’s eyes widened. “Trevane is coming here?”

  “Indeed. I don’t imagine he will look favourably upon your actions.” She didn’t care how Vane dealt with Aubrey, but her brother was liable to fly into an uncontrollable rage when he discovered the extent of her duplicity.

  “And if I answer your questions will you tell Trevane I helped you?”

  “Yes.”

  “What do you want to know?”

  “Did you come here with an accomplice?” She couldn’t shake the feeling that someone lurked out on the heathland. Perhaps it was nothing, just one of Fabian’s men walking with a lamp. Still, she should mention it to Mackenzie. “I doubt you rowed all the way from the mainland single-handedly.”

  “I could row to France and it would be no hardship,” Aubrey grunted. “And I ain’t got no accomplice. I work alone.”

  “If you’re lying, I cannot plead for your release.”

  “I ain’t no rich man. Only a fool shares his bounty, and his lordship don’t want the whole world knowing his business.”

  Probably because Lord Cornell didn’t want anyone to know he was a heartless coward. “Why does Lord Cornell want to hurt my brother?”

  Aubrey shrugged. “It has something to do with his wife, but that’s all I know.”

  Vane was a man with a voracious appetite for carnal pleasures. It was his way of erasing the pain caused by Estelle’s death, Lillian knew that. But since Lord Martin’s deception, her brother had shied away from all illicit liaisons.

  “And how long has Cornell held this grudge?”

  “A few years, I don’t doubt, though he only hired me when you came back to London.”

  “Has he hired anyone else to snoop into our affairs?”

  “How should I know?”

  “Did Cornell mention how he plans to hurt my brother?” Like all weak men, it would not be a direct attack.

  “I’m just paid to tell him of your whereabouts, to follow you wherever you go. Lucky I made it as far as Branscombe. The fishermen thought I was one of the Raven’s men and pointed me in the right direction.”

  Well, she’d learnt nothing new about Lord Cornell. Still, it had passed the time while she waited for Fabian to return.

  Lillian cleared her throat. “I have just one more question.”

  “Then let’s hear it.”

  Pressing her lips firmly together, she hesitated. Did she really need to know the answer to the question that had plagued her for days? “You said you saw my brother at Vauxhall. How did he seem?” It was a ridiculous question, but she had no one else to ask.

  “Seem?” Aubrey frowned.

  “Did he look distraught?”

  “Haunted more like. He looked like a man who’d lost everything on the turn of the dice.”

  Her stomach flipped as another bout of nausea took hold. “What was he doing?”

  “Ain’t that enough questions for one day?”

  “Please.” She stepped forward. “Just tell me what you saw.”

  “He was the last to leave Vauxhall, hung around the gate for twenty minutes, marching back and forth like a man fit for Bedlam. He dragged every passer-by aside, waving his arms and pointing to the Pleasure Gardens. Almost throttled one man he did.”

  Oh, Vane.

  The solid lump in her throat made it hard to breathe.

  In a sudden move, Aubrey stretched his hand through the bars and tugged on her cloak. “Now get me out of this blasted hole.”

  Lillian stumbled back and wrenched the material from his grasp. “As I said, I shall speak to my husband upon his return.” Despite Aubrey’s shouts and jeers to open the cell door, she turned away and hurried back to Mackenzie.

  “Pay him no mind, my lady.” Mackenzie stepped forward, took her arm and led her to the steps. “Did you get the information you needed?”

  “Aubrey answered my questions.” She wiped a tear from her eye. “Though I’m certain it was not at all what I needed.”

  “If that rogue has said anything to upset you I’ll—”

  “No, Mackenzie.” Lillian raised her hand. “He told me only what I suspected.” She needed to clear her mind, to breathe clean air, and so hurried up the steps and burst through the open door leading to the bailey.

  Guilt wrapped around her heart like a vine. It was only right she put Vane out of his misery, only right that she offer an explanation. She would wait one more day for Fabian before heading back to London.

  Sensing Mackenzie’s presence behind her, she swung around. “Did Lord Ravenscroft not give you any indication when he would return?”

  “No, my lady, though I’m sure it’s not his intention to stay away any longer than necessary.”

  “Then if he does not return tomorrow, I must insist a few men escort me to London.”

  “London?” Mackenzie cried. Two men filling buckets from the well stopped and stared. “His lordship gave me the job of keeping you safe, and I cannot do that if you’re away from here.”

  “I know you take your obligation seriously. Indeed, is that why you have men roaming the heathland at night with their lanterns?” She paused upon noting his confused expression.

  Mackenzie straightened to his full height. “What makes you say that?”

  “Have you not sent a man out these last two nights to patrol the area? I have seen him pacing outside the wall holding his lantern aloft.”

  A tense silence ensued.

  “I’ve given no such orders.” Mackenzie rubbed his forehead. “Are you sure you’re not mistaken?”

  “I know what I saw.” Doubt surfaced. She had stood at the window and stared into the night for far too long. It was true. She imagined seeing Vane striding towards the castle, had played the scene over in her mind. What would she say to him? How would he react?

  “Perhaps you saw one of the men returning to the dock,” Mary suggested.

  Mackenzie frowned. “No one was to leave or enter the grounds without my knowledge. Unless—” He swung around and glared at the men carrying buckets of water, and at those brushing down the horses. “If one of those blighters has been out digging for treasure, I shall—”

  “Treasure?” Lillian thought she’d misheard.

  “Can you take me to where you saw them?”

  “Certainly.” Curiosity outweighed any anxious feelings she might have had.

  “Shall I wait here, Mackenzie?” Mary asked.

  “You’d better come, too.” Mackenzie gestured to the gates leading from the bailey.

  Lillian led the way out of the gatehouse and towards the vast expanse of heathland. Purple sprigs of heather, bright yellow flowers and tufts of green made for a vibrant carpet in the daytime. Raising the hem of her dress, she navigated the terrain, stopping only when they reached the area with a clear view of her bedchamber window.

  “The light hovered around here before moving left and then ahead again.” Glancing back and forth between the window and the heath, she pointed to a spot in the distance. “It lingered over there for a time.”

  Mackenzie trudged past her, scouring the ground, kicking at plants with the toe of his boot.

  “The folks in Branscombe say there’s treasure hidden somewhere on this island,” Mary said as they watched Mackenzie pace back and forth like a bloodhound searching for a scent. “Brought ashore during the Armada. Lord Ravenscroft told the men it’s just a tale, said he'd banish anyone caught digging. In all the time I’ve lived here, I’ve never known a man disobey the master’s orders.”

  Lillian considered
what Fabian had told her about Doyle. Mary had made no mention of her husband during the few days she’d been working at the castle. “And yet your husband did.”

  Mary shuffled nervously. She drew her cloak across her chest and gripped the edges. “When a man is too stupid to count his blessings then there’s no hope for him.”

  “Have you heard from your husband since Lord Ravenscroft banished him?”

  Mary blinked rapidly and shook her head. “No, my lady, the man never considered me a priority. But I thank the Lord we’ve no children. Else it would have given him a reason to return.”

  Lillian understood the woman’s logic more than most. Still, trust was not something she gave freely—not anymore. And while she wanted to believe Mary spoke the truth, she struggled to accept her word.

  “Should you see your husband you must inform Lord Ravenscroft at once.”

  Mary nodded. “And thank you, my lady, for giving me a position in your household. Things have been hard these last few months, and I welcome your assistance.”

  “It is Mackenzie you must thank. The man sings your praises and was keen to help now you’re on your own.”

  “I knew it!” Mackenzie shouted. “Unless the rabbits have learnt to use a shovel, someone has been digging.”

  Mary’s eyes lit up when she gazed at the figure on his knees examining the plants. “There’s no man in the world as kind as Mackenzie.”

  Lillian’s thoughts turned to Fabian. Despite bringing her to the island against her will, every deed and gesture spoke of a kind heart, too. But what husband left his wife on their wedding night? What could be so important to keep him away from home for days?

  Chapter Thirteen

  Woken by a noise in her chamber, Lillian opened her eyes and stared out into the darkness. She was too afraid to move, too afraid to give the figure creeping past her line of vision any indication she was awake. Her first instinct had been to jump out of bed and call Fabian’s name. But the initial flurry of excitement vanished when she realised the person was too short to be her husband, too slight of frame to be the prisoner, Aubrey.

  Lillian cursed silently. Why in heaven’s name had she not slept with her pistol? The cock of the hammer would be enough to frighten the intruder away.