Ducal Encounters 02 - With the Duke's Approval

by Wendy Soliman

  “Oh, we do. I don’t allow Peter to take liberties.”

  Anna bit her cut lip to hold back a smile, wincing from the pain it occasioned her. “I am very glad to hear it.”

  “This letter you want Peter to take…” Fanny dithered for a moment, but then nodded decisively. “Leave it to me, my lady. I shall make sure Lord Romsey gets it. Should Peter wait for a reply?”

  “Yes please, Fanny.”

  Fanny slipped the letter into her pocket and left the room. Anna remained where she was, reading a book. She did not wish the reply to arrive when she was with the rest of her family. They would want to know who was writing to her and she would prefer not to indulge in an untruth. As it transpired, Portia joined her in her room just before Fanny returned with the promised response from Lord Romsey.

  “A secret admirer?” Portia asked, raising a brow.

  “Shush, Portia, you must not say anything. I’m plotting a little sleuthing of my own with Lord Romsey, but if Zach were to find out before I’m ready to tell him—”

  “I understand.”

  “You are not going to try and talk me out of it?”

  Portia laughed. “I know you too well to waste the energy.”

  “Good, because I mean to discover, with Lord Romsey’s help, where it was that I was held. Always assuming he is not too frightened of Zach to agree to the scheme.”

  “I can’t see your Lord Romsey being intimidated by anyone. Mind you, he lost his composure completely when you went missing, which is not something I expected to witness. He never seems anything other than suave and completely in control, but he was totally distraught when we were unable to find you.”

  “What did he do?” Anna propped one elbow on her knee and cupped her chin in her splayed hand as she leaned towards her sister, keen for any snippet of information about the object of her affections.

  “Well, he didn’t fume and rant in the way Vince and Nate did, but something very dark and dangerous moved behind those intelligent eyes of his. I should not have liked to be on the receiving end of that expression. His voice became very quiet, very clipped, and he had people running all over London in no time flat, trying to locate you. I had no idea he wielded quite so much power. I expected, at any moment, for him to call out the guard in his quest to find you. Were it not for Zach insisting the particulars of your abduction be kept confidential for fear of ruining your reputation, I believe that is what he would have done.” Portia grinned. “I am convinced he must be in love with you, just life half the rest of the single gentlemen in the ton.”

  “Lord Romsey only loves his occupation. I expect he was frantic because I was in his care when I was abducted. He probably worried about how Zach and the boys would react.”

  “Oh, Anna, you goose!” Portia sighed. “Well, are you not going to open your letter?”

  “When I have some privacy.”

  “Ah, I see.” Portia’s smile was full of satisfaction.

  “You see nothing at all. Now go away and stop bothering me. You can tell Mama I shall be down directly.”

  “I do hope I am right, about Lord Romsey’s intentions, I mean. He is the only gentleman I have seen you take the slightest interest in since we arrived in London. If you would oblige me and accept his offer, I might then be able to enjoy myself without being compared to you the entire time and found wanting.”

  Anna elevated one brow. “Fishing for compliments, Portia?”

  “Not at all, sister dear. I just wish nature had been a little fairer in the distribution of her favours between the two of us, that’s all.”

  “If that had been the case, I might be cleverer and I would then be able to bandy words with Lord Romsey on more equal terms.” Anna clapped her hands at her sister, shooing her from the room. “Now, go!”

  Finally alone, Anna broke Lord Romsey’s seal and read his letter, written in the neat, legible hand she expected of him.

  Lady Annalise, she read. I rejoice to learn of your swift recovery, although I cannot persuade myself you are yet quite as well as you claim to be. Be that as it may, I fully intend to call at Berkeley Square this afternoon to update Winchester on the intelligence I have gathered thus far. Provided your brother does not object, and always assuming I consider you equal to the strain, and I shall not know whether you are until I have seen you for myself, then it would be my pleasure to drive you to the east end this afternoon.

  After all you have been through, the very least I can do, is offer my services in an effort to save you from yet more poetry.

  Yours etc., Clarence Vaughan.

  Anna read the letter twice, nodded with satisfaction and hid it away inside the cover of her journal. That was the first part of her plan accomplished. Now for the difficult part. She was well aware she could not go with Lord Romsey unless Zach permitted it and she hadn’t wanted to ask his permission until she knew his lordship was willing.

  She left her room and ventured downstairs in search of Zach. She noticed her mother, sister and Frankie ensconced in the small sitting room that overlooked the snow-covered back garden, heads together, deep in conversation. She slid past the entrance without being seen and headed for Zach’s study, hoping to find him there alone, without any of her other brothers to join forces against her. She was in luck. Zach was seated behind his desk, studying a pile of papers. He looked up when she walked in and smiled at her, then got up and walked round the desk to take both of her hands in his.

  “You look far better this morning,” he said, examining her face closely. “Your eyes are brighter and there is more vitality about you.”

  “My bruises are brighter, too,” she said with a small laugh, touching the one on the side of her face that had turned purple, yellow, and black.

  “That is a good sign. It means you are healing. Come and sit beside the fire. How are your fingers?”

  She held them up and wiggled them about as she took a seat. “Much better.”

  “You’re here for a reason,” he said after a brief pause. “You have something you wish to talk to me about. I can tell. Come along them, Trouble, out with it. I suppose you know there was never a better time to ask a favour of me, if that is your intention. We are all so pleased to have you back with us that there is little I could refuse you.”

  Anna fiddled with the tail ends of the shawl she had knotted over her shoulders, focusing her eyes on her fingers. Now she was here she was full of uncertainly, fearful of revealing too much about her personal feelings when she was unsure if they were reciprocated.

  “He is quite the most intelligent man it has ever been my privilege to know,” Zach said into the ensuing silence, a smile in his voice.

  Anna’s head shot up. “Whatever do you mean?”

  “You came here to talk to me about Romsey, I collect.”

  “First Portia, now you. Am I that transparent?”

  “Your reaction to Romsey when you met him in the summer was remarkable enough to stick in my memory. You are inundated with attention from gentlemen, none of whom seem to interest you. But Romsey held you in awe right from the first.”

  Anna saw no point in denying it. You say he is intelligent, but then so are you.”

  “Romsey is in a class of his own. He has no siblings, and his mother died when he was quite young, so he had nothing to distract him from his studies.”

  “That must have been very lonely for him. What was he like at school?”

  “He excelled in every subject,” Zach replied with a wry grin. “He didn’t even seem to make any effort, which was very annoying for the rest of us. He joined in with our escapades, but also kept himself apart, if that makes any sense. He told me once that he couldn’t remember a time when he had not been destined for the diplomatic service. His father was a diplomat of renown, he expected Clarence to follow in his footsteps and he was far too keen to please the only parent, the only family, he had ever known to think about doing anything else.”

  “He seems to be very good at what he does.”
>
  “Oh, he is. That’s why he is so indispensable to the government.”

  “That hardly seems fair. He is entitled to a life of his own too. Apart from his diplomatic effects, he also has to try and keep the peace in Hampshire. It is too much for one man.”

  “I tend to agree with you, but I doubt whether Clarence sees it that way.”

  “Perhaps if he spent some time with a close, loving family such as ours he would begin to understand what he has missed all these years.”

  “Oh, Anna, what are you scheming now?” Zach shook his head. “Romsey is much older than you.”

  “But so much more interesting than the vacuous men of my own age. Besides, he is the same age as you, which is not so very much older. Frankie’s husband was twenty years older than her. Only imagine that.”

  “Lady St. John, as I understand it, was pushed into the union by her parents when she was still only seventeen. Unlike you, I very much doubt if her passions had been aroused.”

  “Zach!” Anna felt colour flood her cheeks. “What a thing to say.”

  Zach chuckled. “If I can’t tease my own sister—”

  “I am surprised to hear you make the jump from admiration to matrimony. I thought you left that sort of speculation to us ladies.”

  “Well said, my dear. I consider myself duly chastised.”

  “I want to go and look for the warehouse, Zach,” she said in an abrupt change of subject.

  Zach’s relaxed attitude, his easy smile, instantly faded. “I’m not sure about that.”

  “I need to do it, just so I can put what happened into perspective.”

  “I understand that, but don’t you think it’s too soon?”

  “If you want to catch the people behind the plot, then the sooner the better. Best not give them time to cover their tracks.”

  Zach rubbed his chin, quiet for a long time. “All right, Anna. I shall take you this afternoon.”

  “Thank you, Zach, but I want to go with Lord Romsey.”

  Zach elevated both brows. “And you know he will be free to take you, how, precisely?”

  A capricious smile flirted with Anna’s lips. She made no attempt to remove it, partly because she knew Zach would find it harder to refuse her if she allowed pleasurable anticipation to show. “Oh, something tells me he will call early this afternoon, and I need your permission to go with him, without anyone making an almighty fuss. Quite apart from establishing the location of the warehouse, there is the matter of my lovely cob to be resolved. And, I also have decided to teach Lord Romsey how to relax. It’s quite shocking what a slave he is to duty.”

  “God help him.” Zach grinned at her. “The poor man doesn’t stand a chance.”

  “Precisely.”

  Zach stood up and ruffled her hair. “Very well, Trouble.”

  Anna blinked. “Are you agreeing? Just like that.”

  “There are few men in England I would permit you to be alone with, but it just so happens I would trust Romsey with…well, with my own sister.”

  Chapter Ten

  Clarence spent the remainder of the morning discharging his duties less than diligently. Lady Annalise’s letter had taken him completely by surprise, although a small part of his brain suggested it should not have since she was a constant source of surprise to him. Her willingness to flout convention by writing to him in the first place said much about her independent character, and more still about her determination to get to the bottom of this matter. He was fairly sure a great deal of her concern would be for Frankie, since it was she who would remain in danger until the puzzle had been solved.

  The prospect of driving her to the east end, of being alone with her in a closed carriage, was more enticing than it ought to be. Clarence was sorely tempted, but reminded himself it would not be wise. Quite simply, he didn’t trust himself to behave with decorum—a difficulty he had never before encountered in his admittedly limited dealings with unmarried innocents. He did not have time to waste on flirtatious dalliances, and restricted his relationships to females who were in a position to receive his advances without expectation of permanency.

  But there was just something about Lady Annalise that got beneath his defences, and increasingly he found himself in danger of forgetting whom he was supposed to be when in her engaging company. For the first time in his recollection, the appeal of putting his own interests ahead of duty and responsibility was truly compelling. He blamed those plump lips of her that just cried out to be kissed, her beguiling smile, her lively wit—everything delicious thing about her. Damnation, he had so many important affairs to attend to in this politically unstable time, and absolutely did not require such distractions.

  He had been careful not to agree to her suggestion, reserving the right to judge for himself if she was well enough to undertake such an emotionally distressing excursion. He had already persuaded himself she would not be. Besides, Winchester would never permit it, and perhaps that was just as well. Even if he did give his approval, her brother would probably accompany them. Clarence would then be obliged to disregard his lustful intentions, and they might actually discover the location of her imprisonment. God alone knew, he had not yet managed to unearth a single piece of information regarding the identity of the abductors, and Clarence was starting to feel a little desperate.

  The door opened and Clarence looked up to find Pierce standing in front of his desk.

  “What news do you bring me?” he asked, guessing from Pierce’s dour expression that he wouldn’t wish to hear it.

  “Nothing definitive, my lord. Still no word of a missing cob, and we are no closer to identifying the warehouse where Lady Annalise might have been held. The wharf is so extensive. It would help if we had some idea which part of it she was taken to.”

  “No word from any of our contacts, I suppose.” Clarence stood up and paced the room. “I find it very difficult to believe that no one knows anything about the abduction. Keep the pressure up, Pierce. Make sure all the ne’er-do-wells understand they will not be left alone until we learn something that will help us. Increase the cash rewards on offer for information. Something has to break.”

  “May I enquire if anyone at the foreign office has been able to supply information to discredit Count von Hessel?”

  “Quite the reverse.” Clarence ran a hand through his hair and sighed, frustrated beyond endurance. Pierce sent him an appraising glance, clearly surprised by his loss of composure. Clarence was equally surprised by it. He had faced far graver situations than this one, especially during the war years, and had always remained icily calm. But, despite what the lady herself insisted, no one would convince Clarence he was not responsible for her capture. That made this personal. “The damned man is highly regarded in all quarters. The prince loves him, of course, which is good reason for the current government to find something to his detriment if they possibly can, but so far he appears to be the war hero he claims to be.”

  “In that case, are we absolutely sure he was behind the abduction? He was not recognised, has been behaving perfectly naturally in the interim, and if we cannot discover why he thought it necessary to kidnap Lady St. John, then I am sure no one can.”

  “I’m not entirely sure about anything, but I fail to see whom else it could have been, seeing as how Lady Annalise insists it was a foreign gentleman who came to the warehouse.”

  “But she only heard his voice. She did not see his face. She must also have been terrified. Could it be she made a mistake?”

  “Anything is possible.” Clarence threw up his hands. “There are other foreigners in London, the damned placed is packed with them. But Lady St. John doesn’t think any of them, apart from von Hessel, knew of her habit of walking terraces in a colourful shawls.”

  “Then I would suggest concentrating on von Hessel, my lord.”

  “Precisely. I am just now reading through some of my own papers to see if I can find cracks in his background, but so far nothing has jumped out at me.” Clarence pick
ed up the depositions he had taken from various soldiers under von Hessel’s command after Waterloo and waved them about in frustration. None of them revealed anything to the man’s detriment. “No one is that perfect!” Clarence slapped the papers back down on his desk and sighed. “There must be something.”

  “If there is, we will find it eventually.”

  “I hope so, Pierce.” Clarence resumed his seat. “I certainly hope so.”

  Clarence’s manservant, Sampson, put his head round the door and announced Clarence’s luncheon was ready. Clarence walked through to the dining room with Pierce. Both men sat and ate quickly, Clarence’s mind now focusing on his forthcoming visit to Berkeley Square.

  “I shall be visiting Winchester immediately after luncheon,” he told Pierce. “Have the town coach brought round, drive it yourself and arrange for a reliable man to be up behind. It is possible Lady Annalise will return to the east end with us to see if she can identify her prison. I don’t want to take any chances with her wellbeing on this occasion.”

  “I will make the arrangements immediately,” Pierce replied.

  Clarence kept only one permanent manservant in his Moon Street apartment, his bachelor needs being simple. Sampson fulfilled many roles, including that of valet, employing as many other servants on a daily basis as he saw fit. Clarence stabled his horses, and kept his carriage, in a nearby mews.

  Pierce took himself off as soon as he had eaten his lunch and organised the carriage. A short time later, it arrived outside Clarence’s front door. Clad in his greatcoat, Clarence accepted his hat and gloves from Sampson and walked the short distance to the conveyance. The temperature had risen by a few degrees and winter sunshine was rapidly thawing the snow. At least the roads were now clear. The man Pierce had chosen to ride behind opened the carriage door for Clarence. He then climbed aboard and Pierce encouraged the horses forward.

  Clarence was inexplicably nervous about seeing Lady Annalise again, which was perplexing. He was never nervous. She was a chit of a girl—spirited, beautiful, and lively enough to make him feel dull by comparison—but that hardly explained the desperate determination he felt to be of service to her and earn her respect. Clarence shook his head. It made no sense. No sense at all.