Dueling With the Duke (Brotherhood of the Sword)

by Robyn DeHart

  “What do you know of your husband’s activities over the last several days?” Viscount Ellis asked.

  “Nothing. He rarely told me where he was going or what he was doing unless he brought me along, which he hadn’t done recently.” She paused, wanting to ask, but uncertain if she should. Finally curiosity got the better of her. “Do you know for certain he was killed, that he is dead?”

  Gabriel’s greenish-brown eyes seared into her, then he slowly nodded. “I believe I saw him. Dead.”

  “You believe, but you are not certain?”

  “The body was taken.”

  Perhaps Thornton was simply too cruel to die and had gotten up and walked away. Chills scattered up her arms. She shoved the thought away and asked, “Who the devil would want my husband’s dead body?”

  “I suspect whomever he’s been working with. What can you tell me about your husband’s communications? Did he have visitors here or go places to see people? Receive messages from anyone?”

  Yes, yes, and yes, but she had no reason to trust Gabriel with that information. She’d learned the hard way that it was best to keep information close and reveal it only when necessary. Anything that could provide the upper hand gave her a measure of power, regardless of how small. Power kept one alive.

  …

  Lilith Crisp was still ridiculously beautiful, that Gabe could not deny. And she was obviously as secretive as ever, which in his experience meant deceptive. More than likely he was wasting his time standing here and asking her questions. If she knew anything, she wasn’t inclined to share it with him. There was always the chance that she knew nothing. Men didn’t always share everything with their wives.

  She led them to a parlor, where Gabe found the young man he’d sent earlier. He was dozing on the sofa, his snores echoing through the small room.

  Ellis coughed and the boy jerked awake.

  “Sirs,” he said, coming to his feet.

  “Come with me,” Ellis said, and the two of them disappeared from the room.

  Gabe turned back to face Lilith. “You did not answer my question about your husband and the men he might have worked or corresponded with.”

  She shrugged, her delicate, feminine shoulders rising slightly, drawing his eye to her exposed collarbone. “I cannot say I ever noticed. My husband, as you well know, was quite busy. Between his investments, his club, and Parliament, he had more than his share of things to do to occupy his time.” Her voice seemed to come out in a purr.

  He hated that he’d always found her so damned attractive. He knew better than most men that what the mind knew and what the body wanted didn’t always coincide.

  She walked to the bookshelf lining the back wall and retrieved a tray with a decanter of sherry and placed it on the table in front of the sofa. Here in the better light of the parlor, he could see her full form. Head to toe, in a dark charcoal dress that hugged and accented her luscious figure, she was the embodiment of femininity. Regardless that Gabriel’s pulse had ticked up and that his eyes wanted to study every curve of her body, he forced his attention upward.

  That didn’t help much, as there he was met with her breathtaking face: flawless skin with artfully sculpted cheekbones, thickly lashed, sultry brown eyes, and naturally red lips so perfectly lush they begged for a kiss. But it was those very lips that reminded him of her lies. All the lies she’d told his brother, about how he had won favor with her father and their union was a near certainty. Then she’d encouraged Thornton in the duel and ultimately Rafe’s murder.

  Just then Ellis returned to the room.

  “It’s evident that you seem to believe I’m keeping secrets from you about my husband’s activities, but there is nothing I can tell you,” she said. She retrieved a handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes. “I would appreciate you letting me know what you discover about my husband’s death.”

  Ellis stepped forward. “Of course.” He nudged Gabe in the side with an elbow. “The lady is obviously grieving, and we have kept her up much of the evening.”

  Gabe glanced at Ellis and nodded. This wasn’t over. He’d discover what Lilith was hiding. No one took that much money without having one hell of a secret.

  …

  Lilith allowed the tears to fill her eyes, a skill she’d mastered as a young girl to get whatever she wanted from her father. She held the handkerchief to her eyes. She loathed pretending to shed even one tear for that bastard, let alone many, but if portraying the grieving widow would get Gabe and his companion out of her house, then she would weep all night if she had to. Her eyes welled, and she knew it would take only one blink to release the tears. She closed her eyes, then opened them.

  “I am truly sorry, Lady Thornton, for your loss,” Viscount Ellis said.

  The men stepped into the corridor to leave. Gabe stopped, turned, and looked at her. The weight of his stare nearly made her falter. Thankfully he’d returned her reticule of money, otherwise she would have had to hunt him down to snatch it back. She put the handkerchief up to her eyes again, not willing to watch him as he left.

  She’d seen enough in his glance to know he’d return. But for now he was leaving, and that might buy her enough time to get to Isabel.

  Chapter Three

  They had driven down the street and were about to turn when Gabriel stilled Ellis’s hand on the reins.

  “You aren’t coming, are you?” Ellis asked.

  “I can’t. I must see this through. I know you don’t understand—”

  “I understand,” Ellis said with a chuckle. “She’s a stunning woman. Perhaps even stunning enough to test your resolutions.”

  Gabriel climbed down from the rig. “That has nothing to do with this.”

  Ellis nodded, but Gabe could tell that his friend did not believe him.

  “Her husband tried to assassinate our queen. Is it not our duty to follow the evidence and see where it leads?”

  “I will make your excuses to Potterfield, but you know he will not be deterred long.”

  Gabe nodded and Ellis snapped the reins, leaving him standing on the quiet abandoned street. Lilith knew something. She was running, stealing money, and behaving most suspiciously. These were not the activities of an innocent person. Or at least she knew that her husband was involved in something nefarious, and she was taking precautions to keep herself safe. Gabe was determined to discover everything she knew. The fact that she was a beautiful woman had no relevance to his investigation.

  Besides, Gabe knew who she was underneath that lovely exterior. She was a rose, carefully hiding her thorns below her vibrant color and beauty, but he would not be fooled. He turned and walked back to her townhome, noting that the rig still waiting outside. He walked closer to ensure it was in fact her home and not one of her neighbors’.

  It was the third home in the row, boasting two columns and a black door with a gold number five on it. Hiding himself in the shadows, he crept closer. Lilith slipped out the front door and into the waiting rig. He withdrew his pocket watch, noting the time: a quarter after four in the morning. Where the devil could she be going at this hour?

  There was only one way to find out. He quickly jumped onto the back of the rig and held to the mudguard as the horses clipped forward. The carriage turned several times and eventually headed down the King’s Road heading straight out of London. Had he known this trip would be farther than a few blocks, he would have climbed inside with her instead of hanging off the back. Where the devil was she going? Perhaps a clandestine meeting with whomever had stolen Thornton’s body? He didn’t want to believe that Lilith could be involved in an assassination attempt on the queen, but he knew he couldn’t trust her. She certainly could be involved, and she might be leading him into some sort of a trap. He’d have to be on alert and make certain to not fall prey to any of her schemes.

  An hour and a half later, the rig stopped outside a large building surrounded by a black metal fence. A sign read Saint Bartholomew’s School for Girls. She made no move to leave the ca
rriage. Gabe quietly jumped to the ground and stretched his legs. Thankfully the days prior had been relatively dry and they hadn’t hit many puddles on the journey here, else his pants legs would be caked with mud. Gabe scanned the area—the school across the street, a park behind them, and then houses up the way.

  Was she meeting someone in the park? He glanced at his watch again. It would be another hour before the sun began to rise. Perhaps going into that neighborhood down the street? Though she’d parked right here at the school.

  Scrutinizing the building, he noticed a man standing off to the side, looking up at the windows. He stuck to the brick, standing in the shadows, and appeared to be shielding himself from Lilith’s view. Was she meeting him? Certainly not. Or perhaps he was waiting for Gabe. This could all be some sort of trap to remove him from Lilith’s path. Or she was in danger. Either way he needed to be closer to her, to offer her protection, or to ensure he played no one’s fool. Without warning he opened the door and climbed inside the hack.

  She shrieked, then recognized him and smacked him on the arm. “Gabriel! What the devil is the matter with you?” Her breathing came out in little puffs, and she clutched the fabric at her breast. “Are you so certain I’m a villain that you must follow me everywhere?”

  “I did witness you stealing funds from the museum earlier this evening,” he said.

  “I told you I did not steal them.”

  “Then how could you have possibly known they were there?”

  She leveled her gaze on him. “Perhaps because I put them there. Or had that thought not crossed your mind?”

  No, that hadn’t occurred to him at all. “Why hide money there?”

  “Because putting it anywhere in the house would have been a disaster. He would have found it and—” Her words stopped abruptly as she looked up at him, as if only now realizing to whom she’d been speaking. “It matters not.”

  If he had to make a wager in that moment, he’d say she was telling the truth. So she’d been hoarding money and hiding it at the British Museum, but why? He could certainly ask her now, but he knew she wouldn’t answer. So instead he asked, “Are you here to meet that man?”

  It was too dark in the carriage to tell for certain, but he would have sworn her face paled.

  “What man?” She swallowed and pulled back the tiny curtain to look out into the darkened street.

  “The man lurking in the shadows out there.”

  “No, I am not here to meet a man.”

  “Then what are you doing here?”

  She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. She was silent for a minute or more before releasing a breath. “If you must know I am here to pick up Thornton’s niece to inform her that her uncle has passed.”

  “Why would Thornton’s niece need to be informed at this hour? Could you not send a messenger?”

  “I intend to go in at first light. I cannot bear to sit in that house alone.”

  He could believe her. She certainly sounded as if she were telling the truth, and her dark brown eyes did not waver from his gaze. But this was Lilith, and didn’t he know better than to believe her? She had never been truthful. She had deceived his brother, and it had led him right to his death.

  “Why doesn’t anyone know about this niece?” Or perhaps people did know and Gabe wasn’t aware of her existence, but that seemed unlikely. Over the years, he’d kept a close eye on the affairs of Lord Thornton. He was, after all, the man who’d killed Rafael.

  She looked out the window again, shifting in her seat. “Who is that man?”

  “I have no notion. If he’s not here to meet with you, then perhaps he is loitering,” Gabe said. “Now, about the girl.”

  “She is illegitimate. Her mother, Thornton’s sister, died and now, it would seem, that I am all she has left.”

  “She is not your responsibility.”

  Something flickered across Lilith’s eyes, but it was so quick he nearly missed it. “That may be, but I have known her since she was but a child. I will not pretend I don’t know she’s here.”

  Gabe felt a stirring at her admission. That was not the confession of a heartless woman. Caring for the illegitimate niece of your late husband, that was the act of a caring person. That was the act of the woman he’d first thought she was when they’d met so many years before. When he’d approached her on the balcony before his brother had swooped in. Lilith had been animated and passionate and full of wonder that night, not at all the duplicitous woman he’d discovered her to be.

  It mattered not if Lilith had some humanity left. Right now she was a means to an end. Someone was after the queen, and as a member of the Brotherhood, it was Gabe’s duty to discover who that was. If Lilith could lead him closer, then he would endure time with her.

  “That man is still out there,” she said, her tone edged with concern. “I’m going in. I can wait no longer.”

  Gabe stilled her hand on the door. “I’m going with you.” He jumped down from the rig and then assisted her. Together they crossed the road; the man disappeared into the shadows of the alleyway. Perhaps he was nothing more than a vagrant.

  “Saint Bartholomew’s School for Girls,” Gabe read aloud.

  “Please allow me to do the talking,” Lilith said as they reached the door.

  Gabe nodded, lifted the heavy knocker, and banged it against the black door.

  “Is he still over there?” she whispered.

  “He is, though he’s attempting to conceal himself in the shadows. He could very well be harmless.” Still, Gabe would stay alert.

  The door locks clicked and an older woman, sleep cap still placed atop her head, opened it. “May I help you?”

  “I am here to collect Isabel Crisp,” Lilith said.

  At the sound of Lilith’s voice, the older woman’s eyes lit with recognition. “Ah, Lady Thornton, I did not realize it was you. Come in, come in.”

  She gave them entrance and soon Gabe stood in the entry foyer of a girls’ school. Heavy wood paneling lined the walls and filled the air with lemon oil from being over-polished. The wall sconces flickered as the older woman passed by them. “I will have her wakened. Is there a reason you’ve come to gather her?”

  Lilith folded her hands together and bowed her head slightly. “I’m afraid her uncle has passed. I should like to take her home with me.”

  “Of course, my dear. Will she be returning?”

  “It is unlikely, but I do not know right now. I’ll send for her belongings should I need them.”

  The older lady nodded. “Yes, yes. The two of you can wait here and I’ll fetch Isabel.” She briefly eyed Gabe but did not inquire about his presence.

  She was gone fifteen minutes. In that time Gabe managed to peruse the books filling the bookshelves. What was his next step? He’d have Lilith and her niece. What was he going to do? Bring them both into Brotherhood headquarters to question them? Not with Potterfield watching. The man would never approve. Not until Gabe had some solid proof that exposed Thornton as the man who’d tried to kill the queen.

  If he couldn’t get Lilith to answer any questions about her husband, then he might never find the evidence to support his theory. The damn body was gone, which meant that Thornton had to have been working with someone. Gabe needed some time in the man’s study. Perhaps there was something to be discovered there in the midst of letters and invitations and bank notes. If only Lilith would grant him such access.

  So she’d taken the money because it belonged to her. And perhaps she’d taken it now because she knew with Thornton dead, taking care of his illegitimate niece would fall to her. But believing Lilith could be so altruistic went against everything Gabe thought he knew about her.

  Chapter Four

  A half an hour later, a dressed but sleepy Isabel entered the school offices. Her face lit when she caught sight of Lilith, and she rushed straight into her arms.

  “I have missed you, little squirrel,” Lilith said.

  “And I you,” Isab
el said. “It has been a while since your last visit.”

  Lilith held Isabel out in front of her, noting sharply that Isabel no longer looked like a young girl, but rather a fully grown woman. “I’ve come to take you home.”

  Isabel’s brows lifted. “Truly?”

  Lilith nodded and smiled. Isabel had asked her repeatedly a few years ago if Lilith would take her home, allowing her to leave the school. Thornton had never agreed, and eventually Isabel had stopped asking.

  “Wait here,” Gabe said. “I’m going to see if our friend is still outside.”

  In the excitement of the reunion, Lilith had forgotten about the man outside. Fear rattled to life again inside her, reminding her that Thornton had likely left her and Isabel in a potentially dangerous situation. He’d obviously done something wrong to have Gabriel here questioning her and following her all night.

  “Who is that?” Isabel asked after Gabriel had stepped outside.

  “An old friend,” Lilith said and realized with startling clarity that she wished it were true. She wished she and Gabriel shared a different past, one where he didn’t despise her and blame her for his brother’s death.

  Gabe opened the front door. “He appears to be gone.”

  Lilith nodded, then draped her arm over the younger girl’s shoulders and squeezed her to her side as they walked down the steps of the school. Isabel leaned her head on Lilith’s shoulder.

  The sun had breached the horizon, stretching warm lazy fingers of light behind the school. The sleepy little town had awakened. Street vendors had rolled their carts out, and a few carriages rattled past them. Somehow Lilith would have to get Isabel alone so they could flee. Where they would go, she hadn’t yet decided. France, perhaps. Or the Americas. Somewhere, anywhere away from Thornton’s friends and foes as she would be blamed and congratulated for every nefarious deed her husband accomplished.

  She hadn’t even had a moment to relax since learning of his death. Thornton had made more than his share of enemies during his lifetime. While he was never indebted to people financially, he still managed to find himself on the wrong side of bargains. She knew it was only a matter of time before someone came to call, and she did not want to be there when they did.