They were almost through with breakfast when Vincent appeared at the door and announced, “Miss Montgomery has arrived, sir.”
“Send her in, of course,” responded James.
Penny came in, smiling broadly. “What a delightful day. I just had Jeremy take me for a turn in the park. You should see the hyacinths in bloom. They’re simply stunning.”
“You’ve been at the park all this time?” asked Marcus.
Penny glanced at him briefly. “Of course.”
“You might have waited for me to go with you.”
“I suppose I should have.” She met his gaze for a bare heartbeat, then looked away.
She lying. Just like Lily. What are the two of them hiding?
Penny joined them at the table but ate little. Marcus’s suspicions grew. If she’d skipped breakfast to take a turn in the park, she should be hungry now.
There was easy way to get to the bottom of this, he decided. He’d simply question Jeremy.
Marcus got his chance a short while later when several boxes from Madame Dubonet’s arrived and the two women went upstairs so Lily could try on her new garments. Marcus excused himself and went out to the carriage where the footman was waiting. The young man snapped to attention. “Good morning, sir.”
“I hear you had an early one. Took Penny for a ride in the park.”
Jeremy hesitated, then responded, “Is that what Miss Montgomery said?”
“Yes. But I know it isn’t true. I don’t believe she’d get up so early merely to take a drive in the park. And if she did decide to view the early summer foliage, I’m fairly certain she’d do it on horseback rather than from an enclosed carriage.”
A muscle worked in Jeremy’s jaw. “Yes, sir.”
Marcus moved so he was directly in front of the footman. “Where did you take her, Jeremy? And before you respond, you might recall that I’m the one who pays your wages.”
The footman let out a sigh and shook his head. “She went looking for her cousin, sir. A Mr. Adrian Withersby. When she didn’t find him at the address she had for him, she asked me to take her to the club area of Pall Mall.”
“You took her there?” He felt a surge of anger.
“I took her there, yes, but don’t worry, sir, I didn’t let her leave the carriage. I made her wait while I went in and found Mr. Withersby.”
“When you brought him out to her, what did they discuss?”
“I didn’t hear, sir.” He gave Marcus a helpless look. “I thought since he was her cousin…” He sighed and then continued, “I would never knowingly take her into danger. I hope I didn’t do wrong, sir. But you did tell us Miss Montgomery was to be our mistress, sir. And that we are to try and please her and accommodate all her wishes. I didn’t think there was any harm—”
Marcus put a hand up to halt the footman’s agonized explanations. “I don’t blame you, Jeremy. I know Miss Montgomery can be very convincing. How well I know that.”
Marcus left the footman and walked back to the house, deep in thought. Last night, he’d accepted that he was in love with Penny and told himself she was coming to care for him, too. But now he wasn’t nearly so certain of her. The thought of her being in contact with Withersby unnerved him. From everything she’d said, she disliked her cousin and avoided him as much as possible. What could she possibly have to discuss with him?
As he returned to the library, he decided to take the matter up with James.
His friend looked up from the desk where he was doing paperwork. “What have you been up to, Marcus?”
“I learned something rather disturbing from my footman. I found out Penny met with Adrian Withersby this morning.”
“Her cousin? That wretch you won Horngate from?”
“Indeed. The very one.”
“But why? What could she have to say to him? I thought she heartily disliked the man. And who can blame her, after what he did to her?”
“Exactly.” Marcus turned and paced across the room. “It makes no sense. Unless what she told us about her relationship to Withersby was false.”
“What do you mean?”
Marcus turned and paced the other direction, deeply disturbed by the thought that had just come to him. “You remember how Penny behaved in the beginning. How she went to great lengths to discourage me from marrying her, presenting herself as a gawky, mannerless hoyden who would be an embarrassment to me?” He paced back the other way. “Obviously, that was mostly pretense. While Penny is hardly a sophisticated city deb, she’s nowhere near as naïve and gauche as her behavior suggested.”
“That’s true. Although we’ve never discussed it, Penny’s attitude toward you has definitely changed from what it was in the beginning.”
“Exactly. I must admit I never questioned the change,” said Marcus. “If I thought about it at all, I assumed her behavior had altered because she no longer abhorred the thought of being my wife, but had actually began to embrace the idea.” He met James’s gaze. “Perhaps it was conceited, but I assumed as she’d gotten to know me better, she’d stopped thinking of me as the ogre she was forced to wed and begun to warm to me. But maybe my assumption was wrong. Maybe her behavior changed because her plans have changed.”
“In what way?” James asked.
Marcus paced back and forth before answering. He hated to voice these thoughts, as if saying them aloud would make them more real. “What if Withersby was the one who told her to convince me not to marry her, and now he’s changed his mind?”
“Why would he do that? Once you marry Penny, you gain control of Horngate. Withersby can’t possibly want that.”
“No, I suppose not.” Marcus stopped pacing. “But something’s going on. Something that involves Withersby.”
“Maybe Penny met with him for some reason that has nothing to do with you.”
“Then why did she lie about it?” Marcus retorted, feeling even more agitated. “If the meeting was completely innocent, there would be no reason for her to make up this story about going to the park.”
“Hmmm. I can see your point. Still, I think the simplest way to clear this up is to confront her.”
Marcus nodded. “You’re right. That’s exactly what I should do.”
****
“You look beautiful,” Penny said as Lily stepped out of the dressing room in the upstairs bedroom and twirled around in her new gown. “In that dress you’re bound to turn the heads of all the single men in London.”
“I only want to turn the head of one.” Lily dipped her head and her cheeks colored.
Penny smiled. “I don’t think you need new clothing to make James notice you. It appears he is already quite smitten.”
“You truly think so?”
“Yes. I do. But I expect it will take some time for him to get used to the idea. From what Marcus tells me, James has a whole list of attributes he thinks he wants in a wife. It might take a bit for him to realize that lists don’t matter much when you fall in love.”
Lily came to sit down on the bed next to Penny, looking troubled. “I’m certain his list doesn’t include a ready-made family…or a wife who has no prospects.”
Penny patted her shoulder. “James may pride himself on his logic and reason, but he’ll ultimately succumb to what’s in his heart. But it may take a little while. You’ll have to be patient.”
Lily nodded. “My heart tells me you’re right.” She turned to face Penny. “If you believe so much in the importance of following your heart, I don’t understand why you’re not being truthful with Marcus. He obviously adores you. I can’t imagine why you think you must keep secrets from him.”
“What secrets?” asked Penny, although she suspected she knew exactly what Lily meant.
“About your cousin, for one thing. And also about wherever you went this morning. It’s obvious to everyone you didn’t go to the park.”
“Is it?”
“I’m afraid so. Where were you? What were you doing that you felt you must hide it from Mar
cus?”
“I was meeting with my cousin.”
Lily’s eyes widened. “Did he threaten you again? Are you in danger?”
Penny sighed. “I’m afraid I’m not the one who’s in danger. It’s Marcus.” She stood as the anxiety she’d fought to suppress bubbled to the surface. She had to tell someone. She had to. Facing Lily, she said, “Adrian says if I marry Marcus, he’ll arrange for something to happen to him…something fatal.”
Lily gazed at her in shock. “That’s awful! Simply dreadful! You have to tell Marcus…and James. Between the two of them they’ll find a way to protect Marcus from your cousin.”
“How can anyone guard against a vague threat of danger?” Penny asked in an agonized voice. “He’ll never know when he might be attacked or what to look out for. I don’t even know the source of the threat.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s not Adrian I’m worried about. I don’t believe he could plot Marcus’s murder on his own. But he says he’s lost Horngate a second time, this time to a man who’s determined to marry me and take over the estate.”
“I don’t understand. What is Horngate? And how can this man marry you when you’re engaged to Marcus?”
“Horngate is a farm in south Hampshire, left to me by my parents. But since I’m a woman, the law doesn’t see fit for me to manage it on my own, so Adrian was named as my guardian. A few weeks ago, Adrian lost Horngate to Marcus in a card game. That’s how Marcus and I came to be engaged.”
Lily stared at her, open-mouthed. “But…the two of you…you seem so compatible. I thought it was a love match.”
“It didn’t start out that way. In the beginning I tried my best to convince Marcus I would be an absolute nightmare as a wife. I was determined to disgust him so much that he would give up any notion of marrying me to gain control over Horngate. Obviously, I failed to convince him, and in the meantime, I decided being his wife might not be so awful. Although I still worry about him interfering with the horse operation, most of the time I think we might be able to work out a tolerable arrangement. I believe there is hope we can function as partners rather than the usual situation of the man making all the decisions and controlling everything.”
“Not to mention, you fell in love with him,” Lily said.
“I suppose that’s true.” Penny returned Lily’s smile with a rueful one of her own. “Although I’m not sure I’d ever admit that to him. I don’t want to give him too much power.”
“Of course not.” Lily’s smile widened.
Penny’s mood again turned sober. “Unfortunately, Marcus isn’t the problem. Adrian is. He says he’s lost Horngate a second time. And he assures me the man he lost it to is far more ruthless than Marcus. This man is willing to kill to get rid of any potential rival.” She shook her head. “I don’t know whether I believe Adrian or not. But until I find out for certain who this man is, the only way to protect Marcus is to call things off with him.”
“Which you don’t want to do?”
“No, I don’t.” It was surprising, Penny thought, how little she wanted to get out of marrying Marcus. After going to great efforts to get him to break off the engagement, she now found she was willing—indeed almost eager—to become his wife.
“But you feel it’s the only way to make certain this other man doesn’t try to murder him?” Lily asked.
“Exactly.”
“Maybe Marcus could reason with your cousin and find out who’s behind this.” Lily suggested.
Penny shook her head. “I think a confrontation between the two of them might make things worse. To find Adrian, Marcus would have to search for him, and in the process he might encounter this other man. He could end up walking right into a deadly trap.” She shivered, thinking of Adrian’s remark about Marcus being set upon in a dark alley.
“What if he took James and a couple of footmen with him?”
“Adrian would never talk to him then. No, I fear the only way to get the truth from Adrian is for me to call off things with Marcus, or at least appear to. Then Adrian will reveal who this other man is, and I’ll find out if he’s truly the brutal monster my cousin says he is.” She shuddered.
“But if he is a monster, and your cousin forces you to marry him…” Lily stared at her, looking as horrified as Penny felt.
Penny let out a deep breath. “It is a conundrum. To save Marcus, it seems I must sacrifice any chance of happiness for myself. But I feel like I have no choice. I can’t bear the thought of him being murdered.”
“There must be some way to thwart your cousin’s evil scheme. Marcus appears fairly well-to-do, and I’m certain he knows some influential people. Surely someone can help us. I think you should tell Marcus and James the whole story. Marcus could even go into hiding for a time, until we find out who’s behind these threats.”
Lily’s plan seemed like a reasonable course of action, at least from a woman’s standpoint. But a man might well find it shameful to hide from a potential threat, rather than confronting the danger head-on. Penny could well imagine Marcus refusing to listen to her concerns and immediately going after Adrian. If there was anything to her cousin’s threats, Marcus might end up walking into a deathtrap.
“I don’t feel I can risk telling Marcus,” she told Lily. “For Marcus to confront Adrian might be the worst thing he could do. You weren’t there when Marcus and I first discussed how to deal with Brakestoke. Marcus was all for challenging him to a duel. And in that instance, it wasn’t Marcus’s honor at stake but yours, a woman he’d only just met. Think how he might react to a threat directed at him…by a cowardly wretch like Adrian.”
“What’s the answer, then? If you do as your cousin asks, you could end up wed to a ruthless, violent man. If you do nothing, Marcus might be murdered.”
Penny chewed her lower lip in thought. “If only I could be certain Adrian is telling the truth. He might be bluffing. He may not have lost Horngate to another man at all. And even if there is another man, he may not be the murderous monster Adrian says he is.”
“How can you find out?”
“I need to have someone spy on Adrian. Follow him and see where he goes and whom he meets. I think I can get Jeremy, the footman, to do it. But to buy time for Jeremy to investigate things, I need to make Adrian think I’ve ended things with Marcus. But the problem is I’m living at Marcus’s townhouse. I can’t return to Horngate. If I do, I fear Adrian will follow me there and I’ll be trapped. I need to find somewhere else to stay in London.”
“You could stay here.”
“But what would we tell James?”
“We could tell him the truth, that you’re merely pretending to break things off with Marcus because of your cousin’s threats.”
Penny shook her head. “James will never agree. He’d feel honor bound to tell Marcus what’s going on.”
“I know a place you could stay,” Lily said. “If you have money.” Penny looked at Lily questioningly. She continued, “It’s where I stayed when my family”—Lily swallowed—“asked me to leave. I thought Brakestoke would pay for it. When he wouldn’t, that’s when I was forced to confront him. You know the rest.”
“I have money,” said Penny. “When I left Horngate with Marcus, I planned on returning. I knew I’d need money to travel home. I was also prepared to pay off servants, and anyone else who would help me get out of the marriage.” She gave Lily a sad smile. “Back then, I was determined not to have anything to do with Marcus. Now look at me—I’m forced to leave him and it’s breaking my heart.”
Lily came and squeezed her arm. “Things don’t always turn out the way we expect. But sometimes they turn out even better. I’m so happy to have little Charles, regardless of how his birth came about. And James and you and Marcus have been so kind to me. For the first time in months, I actually have hope for the future.”
“I believe things will work out for you, Lily, but I’m not so certain about my future. If I leave Marcus now, I doubt he’ll ever trust
me again. But I’ve never seen my cousin like this…so anxious and desperate.” She sighed. “Even if I can keep this man from hurting Marcus, how can I avoid marrying him? I can’t hide forever.”
“I wish you would let me tell James about this. I believe he would help you. He’s Marcus’s close friend. I can’t believe he’d do anything to endanger him.”
“I fear James is too much like you. He sees the good in people, and he won’t believe that someone might be willing to murder Marcus for Horngate. No, for now I have to act as if I’m doing what Adrian wants. He’s used to bullying me, so he’ll think he has things under control. That will give me some time to make my own plans to get out of this mess.”
Lily still looked troubled, but she nodded. Her agreement relieved Penny, but it was tempered by the gnawing awareness of how much her plan would hurt and anger Marcus…and break her own heart.
Chapter Eighteen
“You’re certainly quiet tonight,” Marcus commented at dinner.
Penny put down her fork and responded with what she hoped was a placid smile. “I’m merely thinking about Lily’s situation. James seems quite charmed by her. Do you think there’s any chance he might…take things further than simply providing her with a place to stay?”
Marcus raised his dark brows. “Do you mean, do I think he might marry her?”
“Well, yes. Eventually, that is. Once he has time to get used to the idea.”
Marcus’s dark eyes, bright with emotion, pierced her. “At one time I would have scoffed at such a notion. I would have thought it utterly ridiculous to imagine a sensible man like James deciding to wed a woman with a child and no dowry, income or other prospects. But having learned how powerfully tender emotions can affect even a reasonable person’s decisions, I’m no longer willing to dismiss the idea out of hand. James appears smitten, so who can say what he will do?”
Penny could feel herself flushing in response to Marcus’s words. He appeared to be discussing his own feelings for her as much as what James might feel toward Lily. It would be easy to interpret his words as his way of telling her he was in love with her. The realization flooded her with an aching dismay. He would feel terribly betrayed when she left him. As difficult as it had been for him to give in to his emotions, he might never get over it.
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