Once Upon an Accident 02 - Lessons in Seduction

by Melissa Schroeder

  “Fitzgerald, send a footman around for Dr. Thomas,” Sebastian ordered.

  Nodding, the butler left without a word, his face drained of all color.

  “Ethingham, let’s get her into the study. Lay her down on the couch.

  John, have Simon”—he nodded to the footman who had just walked up— “help you to your room. We will send the doctor to you when he arrives.”

  “What about Lady Cicely?” John asked.

  Douglas could tell the words cost the lad much. He paled further at the volume of his voice.

  “She needs the doctor first,” John said.

  Douglas inclined his head. “We’ll see to her safety. You take care of yourself.”

  Sebastian ushered Douglas into the study where he efficiently swiped the sofa clean of pillows. When he stepped back and gestured it was ready, Douglas could not seem to bring himself to put her down. Tucked safely in his embrace, she felt so small, so fragile and defenseless. God help him, but he would never forget the bone-chilling fear he felt when he discovered her in that alley. Dewhurst standing over her, fading footsteps of the assailant sounding in the distance and young John bewildered and bleeding. When he’d found out she had left the lending library five minutes prior and never made it to her carriage, panic had held him by the short hairs. Five minutes… Anything could have happened.

  Douglas pulled her tighter to his chest. His arms trembled, but it was not from her slight slip of a form, it was from her danger and his shortcomings. The fact that it had been Dewhurst and not himself who had saved her, had struck him to his core. It was asinine and juvenile, but he felt he had the right to be the one to protect her. But he had been too involved in other things, too busy to keep up with her comings and goings.

  He looked down at her. Her color was pale although her breathing was deep and steady. She was so cold. So lifeless. So unlike Cicely.

  Penwyth stepped forward and said in a lowered voice, “It is all right, old chap. The doctor is coming. She is safe. She is going to be all right.

  Just set her on the sofa and we will figure it all out.”

  Before he could embarrass himself by refusing to set her down, she stirred. Her heavily lashed lids fluttered, once, twice, then rose. The instant fear that leapt in her eyes twisted his heart. But that fear dissolved into confusion when she realized who was holding her.

  “Douglas?”

  Penwyth coughed discreetly behind Douglas, apparently taking note of Cicely’s familiar use of his name.

  Without paying attention to the other man, he placed her on the sofa, knowing now that she would be fine. She blinked up at him as he straightened. He knew the moment she remembered the incident. What little color was left drained from her face.

  “John?”

  Of course. Her first concern would be for someone else.

  “He’s fine. A doctor is going to have to stitch up the gash, but he will be hale and hearty soon enough.”

  She nodded then turned her attention to Dewhurst who had just stepped through the door to the study. “Thank you so much, my lord. If you had not come upon us when you did, I shudder to think what would have happened. He was a desperate lad.”

  Her thin voice sent another wave of rage pouring through Douglas.

  He did not like the mind-numbing fear, the desperate worry that the incident had caused him. The sound of her weak voice had him lashing out at Dewhurst.

  “Yes, just how was it that you should be the one to discover Lady Cicely was in trouble?” His tone reeked of suspicion but damned if he could stop it. The giant green beast that was jealousy clawed at his belly, fighting to get out.

  “Chance only. I saw John wandering down the street covered with blood and I had just talked to Lady Cicely in the lending library. She had said John was to escort her home so when I found John, I realized something terrible had happened. We started our search immediately, and I am thankful she had not been taken too far.”

  Douglas opened his mouth to ask what had prompted them to turn down that unlikely alleyway when Colleen rushed into the room, followed closely by Lady Victoria and Lady Anna.

  “We just heard what happened,” Colleen said. She was composed but he recognized the same fear in her eyes when their gazes met. Her attention turned to Cicely. “Cicely.” She hastened to the sofa. “How are you doing?”

  Cicely smiled weakly and looked a bit embarrassed by all the attention. “I am fine. All the excitement and skipping luncheon probably caused my fainting spell.”

  Douglas thought it probably had a bit more to do with nerves, but he remained silent.

  Anna, looking much like a woman warrior, settled her hands on her hips and faced Dewhurst. “Just what is this all about?”

  Douglas smiled with humor and compassion. It was about time that someone asked that. Perhaps the domineering little woman could coax answers he himself could not.

  “Anna, please. He saved me from a ruffian who apparently was after my lending library book.”

  Suddenly Anna’s demeanor changed. Anna cast a worshipful glance at Dewhurst and then turned to Cicely. “A book from the lending library?

  How utterly absurd. Why would a man of the streets be interested in that?”

  “I have no idea, truly. It is not as if it was worth much and I was carrying more valuable things in my reticule than that book.”

  Sebastian stirred at that comment. “What exactly did the man say?”

  Cicely slowly turned her head. “He said he needed the book.”

  “Odd, that.” This came from Dewhurst.

  “What was the book about?” Douglas inquired.

  Cicely struggled to sit up. When Douglas opened his mouth to tell her to settle down, she shook her head. “Do not worry, Your Grace. I just need to sit up and think.”

  After she settled she said, “It was a biography of George Washington.”

  “What the bloody hell would he want with that?” Sebastian asked.

  “Sebastian, tame your tongue,” Lady Victoria said.

  Cicely blinked, then rubbed her eyes. The pain, the remorse and the worry shown brightly in her gaze. “It is a bit overwhelming that a man would attack John and threaten me over a book about the first president of the colonies.”

  Silence greeted her statement until Anna spoke up. “I bet it has to do with that foolish diary you’ve been reading.”

  “Oh, Anna,” her mother sighed. “You are letting your imagination run away with you.”

  “What diary is that?” Douglas asked.

  “Really, Anna—”

  Anna drowned out Cicely’s denial. “She has that diary that tells of a plot to overthrow the Crown, or it seems that is what it is.”

  Another beat of silence filled the room. In the next instant, it exploded in a rash of questions, everyone trying to talk over the others.

  “Silence!” Sebastian yelled. They all turned to the earl, who now stood behind his desk. After affording them a look of censure, he fixed his attention on Cicely. “Cicely, what is this about?”

  Cicely smiled weakly. “The diary I bought. It looked like a diary about society here in England during Napoleon’s reign. And on first look, I am sure most people would assume, as I did, that it was no more than a particular gentleman’s views of parties and whatnot. But then it changed. There was more detail about a group he was involved with who thought the Crown had too much power.”

  “And you think that is when they started plotting to overthrow the King?” Douglas asked.

  She sighed. “They had started out simply enough. They wanted more rights for the common man, and rightly so. But there was a change along the way. It became more about their destiny, what they felt was their right and duty to overthrow the Crown.”

  “Treason,” Dewhurst said.

  “At the very least,” Sebastian concluded. “There might have been other crimes they committed along the way. Who knows what is in that book, what it might uncover.”

  Cicely shook her head. �
�I have yet to determine its authenticity and who the people involved were.”

  “You have yet to discover?” Douglas asked. “You have been researching it?”

  She nodded. “There has not been much interest in it before now, as many of the members of The Historical Society scoffed when I approached them with my discovery. Well, until Oglithorpe started taking particular interest in it.”

  “When was that?” both Sebastian and Douglas inquired.

  “Well, I know he asked me about it several times in the last few days.

  Then, this morning, he cornered me at the lending library. That was right before Lord Dewhurst happened along to save me from being bored to death by the offending man. His area of expertise is in the Greco-Roman Empire. As a matter of fact, he has oftentimes spoken out against researching or listening too keenly to recorded recent history. He says that until all of the parties involved are dead, no one can ever truly uncover the details of what happened.”

  Bubbling with excitement, Anna said, “I think—”

  “Anna, why don’t you and Dewhurst take some tea with Mother? I am sure that he is famished after his afternoon of adventures.”

  The abrupt order caused Anna to frown at her brother. “But—”

  “Lady Anna, I would be pleased to take some tea. I daresay Fitzgerald could rummage up a few of those biscuits I like so much.”

  Anna looked to argue, her lips compressing into a thin line, but one more glance at her brother and she relented. Once Dewhurst and Anna, along with Lady Victoria, were ushered out of the room, Colleen shut the door behind them and nodded to Penwyth.

  “Why did you send Dewhurst away?” Cicely asked.

  “Anna would have never left on her own.” He frowned. “And no matter how much I am in his debt for his rescue this afternoon, he is not family.

  And the less people who know about this, and everything in it, the better.”

  Colleen nodded. “I agree. We keep this within the confines of the family. Let’s sit and discuss the matter.”

  After they had all settled, Cicely told them of the plot, summarizing as best as she could, of the five men of Quality and their plans to help Napoleon’s revolution spread to England.

  “But, I am only three-fourths of the way through the diary and the code names make it impossible to decipher who they actually are. There is some detail about the scandals of the day, society information, but not really that much to go on.”

  “And that is why you went to the library today?” Penwyth asked.

  “Yes. I was hoping to find some historical books on the time period so I could match what is in the diary to the events. Maybe even another diary of someone in the Realm. Perhaps it would show me a pattern and link some of the names to the code.”

  Penwyth looked at Douglas. “Have you seen this?”

  “No. But I think it might be about time to have a look at it.”

  “I heard there was an incident this afternoon,” Jupiter stated.

  Noir’s heir grimaced. “Yes, someone accosted Lady Cicely and from all accounts, stole her book.”

  Jupiter turned his attention from the younger man and looked out over the square located across the street from his house. Afternoon traffic was light, mostly last-minute calls and those heading home to ready for dinner or an evening filled with balls. It had been years since he had worried about exposure. Years in which he had carefully built a fortune that would dissolve under the scrutiny of treason.

  “Do you think they made the connection?” he asked, knowing the answer, hoping it wasn’t true.

  “Yes.”

  Sighing, he faced the younger man who still had the look of his father. Many people saw those affable looks, the pleasant smile, and misjudged the creature that lay beneath. Out of all of them, Jupiter knew Noir’s heir was the most calculating. He followed in his father’s footsteps.

  It had been Noir’s plan and the others had accepted it and the opportunity and all that came with it. They all enjoyed their little society.

  They had done terrible things, but Noir had always been much colder, sadistic. If rumors proved true, the son was even worse.

  “It is a problem,” Noir’s heir said.

  He nodded. “Yes, it is. Especially since the gossipmongers are all atwitter about the thief asking about a book. Then stealing it from her, at knifepoint.” A chill settled in his blood. “That is not a good thing. People get interested, more will speculate.”

  “And there seems to be a connection between Lady Cicely and the Duke of Ethingham.”

  “Damnit. Do you think he is after the diary?”

  Noir’s heir shook his head. “I have a feeling he’s after Lady Cicely.”

  Jupiter grunted and they descended into silence, both men contemplating the implications of that. The younger man broke the stillness.

  “I wanted to offer my condolences on the passing of Raven.”

  “Why? The man was as useless today as he was all those years ago.

  He and his errant ways were one of the reasons we had to dissolve. Other than Napoleon’s defeat that is. Bastard could not keep his mouth shut around his mistresses.” He settled in his favorite armchair, his bones aching with age, with regret. “Do you think you can take care of Lady Cicely?”

  The younger man nodded. A smile curled his lips. “I will make sure it is taken care of as soon as possible.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  In which Lady Cicely finds more pleasure than expected at the theater.

  “We should not have come tonight.”

  Annoyed, Cicely listened as Sebastian stated his feelings on the subject for the fourth time since they had arrived at the theater. She had long since abandoned any thoughts of changing his mind. Arguing would not work, and they had already arrived. The point was moot.

  Colleen sighed as she stepped around Lady Randel. “Sebastian, if you say that we should not be here one more time, I will throttle you. And if I cannot finish the job, I am sure either Cicely or Anna would gladly help.”

  Her tone softened. “Cicely said she’s fine, and I, for one, believe her.”

  Sebastian opened his mouth to argue, ignoring the looks they were drawing. He was stopped by Bridgerton’s arrival.

  “Say, old man. Lady Cicely, Lady Anna and of course Lady Colleen.

  Dewhurst.”

  His voice dipped when he said the other man’s name and Cicely noted the barely veiled look of hatred he hurtled in Dewhurst’s direction.

  The apparent vehemence was masked before Cicely could make heads or tails of it, although she did remember his obvious irritation with Dewhurst before tonight. She glanced over at Lady Anna, who looked to be trying her hardest not to sneak glances at Bridgerton.

  The talk descended into inane comments about the upcoming performance and she allowed her mind to wander. The day had started out with a burst of excitement, and with everything that had happened, Cicely felt a bit weary. Still, she was glad to be out of the house. After the attack, she had retired to her room to read over the diary. She spent the entire afternoon steeped in conspiracy and threats to the Crown and was in dire need of a break.

  There was a stir within the crowd. She turned to where many of them had fixed their attention and saw Douglas striding toward them. He had that confident, loose-limbed kind of walk that spoke of his place in society. It was as if he were a great leopard winding his way through a pack of hyenas. The moment she met his gaze, her heart turned over.

  Never had she had a man look at her with such a predatory air, as if he would fight to the death to gain her attention. Even though she was sure she was imagining it, Cicely could not stop the little thrill of excitement that danced through her.

  Ignoring society’s rules, he threaded his way through the milling crowd, barely acknowledging acquaintances. He never once took his attention from her face.

  Considering their last talk together, she had not been sure how he would act tonight. Douglas had behaved as boorish as her cous
in. Since she was already overwrought, she should consider her health.

  As Douglas neared, anticipation mounted, from her and everyone who witnessed his behavior. In her mind, she knew his devoted interest was not proper. But with her body humming and excitement skating through her blood, it was hard to do anything but return his regard.

  By the time he reached their group, murmurs had risen in speculation, but for once, she ignored them.

  “Your Grace,” she said, dipping into a curtsy and bending her head.

  As she rose, she met his gaze, allowing her lips to curve. She was rewarded with a flare of heat in his eyes.

  He bent over her hand, kissing just above the skin, as was proper.

  Even through the thin material of her gloves, she could feel his breath against her flesh and shivered in reaction.

  “Running late tonight, Ethingham?” asked Sebastian. There was a devilish gleam to his eye that, when Douglas looked at him, he returned.

  “Just had a few matters to attend to.”

  After Douglas made that cryptic statement, Sebastian nodded ever so slightly. No one else seemed to notice. The crowd started slowly moving toward their boxes.

  Douglas offered her his arm. “I would be honored if you would allow me to escort you to my box.”

  “Your box?” she asked, even as she rested her hand on his forearm.

  Was he proposing they be alone in the box? It would be highly improper of him, but it was such a delicious idea.

  “I told Penwyth my box would make more sense. There is more room for all of us.”

  She stifled a sigh of disappointment. She knew it was not appropriate for them to be alone, and Douglas would never damage her reputation.

  Still, it would have been exciting to start her lessons tonight. Anna demanded her attention with a comment about Colleen’s dress and Cicely pretended to listen. She nodded and laughed, offering polite rejoinders.

  “You’re flushed. Are you sure you are well?” Anna whispered.