by Jane Lark
Jane looked at her husband.
His eyes had narrowed, and the muscle in his jaw was visibly taut. “How?” The single word spoke the accusation. He moved forward. So did Edward.
“A torch was thrown over the wall, my Lord.”
Without a word, Robert shared a look with Edward then his pace increased. They were gone in an instant, James with them, as they disappeared through the servants’ door.
Jane gripped her dress, lifted her hem, and hurried in pursuit, hearing Ellen follow.
When they reached the courtyard, the stables were in flames, gold and orange tongues licking the jet night air. The fire was eating the stable block like a giant monster, crackling and growling. The internal beams groaned, and suddenly, a massive crack rang out as wood splintered and a quarter of the stable roof dropped away, collapsing with a loud, angry whoosh.
Flying splinters of burning wood and straw drifted about Jane, and the intense heat from the blaze seared her lungs and scorched her skin.
Her eyes spun about the courtyard as voices broke her shock.
Several chains of servants passed buckets of water between them. Horses screamed and whinnied. Men shouted, calling for more water. She could not see Robert or Edward, but it appeared all the horses were out, and yet, the carriages and tack would still be lost. The flames licked higher in the air, threatening the house.
“Ellen.” Jane caught at her sister-in-law’s hand and pulled Ellen with her to join a chain forming on the side by the house. At once, a bucket was passed into her hands. She passed it on again towards the corner of the stable closest to the house, where people sought to stop the fire from spreading. Jane took another bucket from Ellen’s hands and looked for Robert in the chaos. The fire was a bright torch against the cloudy, indigo hues of night. Another bucket was passed, and Jane handed it on, and then an empty one back.
“Another bucket!” It was Robert’s voice.
Her eyes turned to him. He was by the stable, pouring water on to the burning wooden frame above a door, as grooms ran through trying to save what they could. “Another!” he yelled, frustrated at his chain’s slow pace. Jane saw Edward at the head of another chain. She worked to speed up the passing of her own, calling ahead for everyone to hurry and listening to Robert’s orders for the targets of their battle. Two additional chains formed under Robert’s direction as servants from the houses around his own came to help, but they made little headway against the raging fire, its flames leaping like fingers reached out towards the house. Jane passed back an empty bucket to Ellen. Their eyes met and Jane said, “We will lose the house.”
“Not if we can help it,” Ellen responded, her fingers catching Jane’s for a moment before passing the bucket on.
A flash of light suddenly filled the sky, and lightning stretched to earth like a crack, breaking through the black night. Thunder shook the air about them. High-pitched female squeals of fright joined masculine cries to continue the chain. Then, in answer to an unspoken prayer, the heavens opened. Rain fell in large, heavy drops hammering down, drenching the stables within minutes and subduing the flames.
Jane stopped and looked up, as did everyone about her, and some held their hands to the rain.
The fire smouldered, tamed from flames to wisps of smoke in moments, and the air stank of charred wood and burnt leather.
Buckets fell to the ground, and people hugged and laughed, thanking God.
Jane felt exhausted as she walked over to Robert. His face was upturned to the rain, and his arms hung loosely at his sides.
“Robert?” She gripped his hand.
His hair was plastered to his brow, and his coat was welded to his powerful frame. Everything about him spoke of authority and silent strength.
He lowered his head and looked at a passing stable lad.
“Is there a saddle?”
The boy stopped and turned. “Aye, my Lord.”
“Then saddle me a horse.”
The boy did not move.
“Now!” Robert yelled.
The lad tugged at his forelock then darted off.
“Where are you going?” Edward asked.
Jane turned.
Ellen was holding Edward’s hand. Her damp dress clung to her figure.
“This ends now,” Robert answered stiffly, his fingers slipping from Jane’s.
Jane saw the boy throw a saddle over the back of a chestnut mare. Robert walked away.
She followed. “Robert. No.”
He glanced back. “No, Jane?” The words were flung at her, but he did not stop moving. “Do you still not believe in me? I am going to settle this.”
“Not when you’re angry.” She tried to grip his arm, but he pulled it free.
“Trust me.” He no longer looked at her, but at the horse. She could see his mind racing towards a fight with Joshua. He may as well already be riding there. He was obviously picturing the violence he planned in his head.
“Robert, I trust you. I do not trust him! Don’t go!”
“Then maybe I shall not fight fair. Or would you rather I wait until he’s killed us both.” His loose arm swung to incorporate the smouldering charred remains of the stables as he walked. She hurried after him. “If this had spread to the house?” The conclusion of that question, of how much they could have lost, he left hanging as he halted and turned to face her. “It stops now, Jane, one way or another.”
She moved in front of him. “No.”
“I can’t not.” He pressed her aside and walked on.
Jane looked at Edward, who’d followed. “Stop him! Stop him, please! He will not listen!”
Edward did not acknowledge her, but moved past her as Robert mounted.
“Robert, don’t go!” Jane cried, spinning about and facing him again, rain dripping down her face.
He sat back into the saddle, ignoring her imploring words, and the look he gave her was an apologetic denial as he struck his heels to the horse’s flanks, hard.
But Edward grasped the animal’s reins and held it steady. “Wait! I have an idea. Just give me a moment. You know you’ll never stand against Sutton alone. He won’t let you anywhere near him.”
“So now my own brother thinks me too weak.”
“I don’t think you weak. I have a secret weapon.”
Impatiently, Robert’s horse twisted its head against the grip of the bit.
“What weapon?”
“Pembroke … ”
Robert had reached the end of his tether. All he wanted to do was face Sutton and put an end to this. His palms itched to do it.
“Pembroke’s influence outweighs Sutton’s by miles. Imagine if we get Pembroke on your side!” Edward still gripped the reins.
“Let me deal with this!” Robert’s anger was intense. He wished this done.
“Don’t be a fool. You cannot take him down alone! You know you cannot!”
Impatient, Robert inwardly cursed. He knew Edward was right, and yet, every element of Robert’s being wanted to go after the man who had abused Jane and was now attacking him.
“Robert!” Edward yelled.
Looking at the hubbub in the courtyard, Robert saw Jane. She watched him with wide, dark, terrified eyes. She was soaked, as he was, as they all were, but the bedraggled state of her hair and dress brought him back to sanity. How would she cope if Sutton retaliated with a fatal strike? This had all begun because he’d ridden away and left her. He couldn’t do the same again. She needed him.
Hell! In one movement, he swung down from the saddle.
“Tell me your idea,” he growled at his brother.
Jane lost all reserve, flew at him, and hugged him hard, sobbing.
She had scaled his rakehell walls long ago, and now, he knew he had broken her defences, too. Less than a month ago, she would not have shown any feeling.
A half hour later, all still in a state of dishabille, they clustered in the drawing room, he and Edward in their damp shirts, the women with shawls wrapped about them as t
he fire, having been stoked, burned brightly. Both women clasped a hot chocolate in shaking fingers, while Robert and Edward gripped glasses of brandy.
“Why do you think Pembroke would let himself be dragged into this? I cannot imagine him agreeing to it,” Robert challenged.
“Because he is interested in anything which involves John. You know, as well as I do, Sutton’s strikes could get broader. Let us help. Let me get help. After all, you helped Ellen and me once. Let us return the favour.”
“And what the hell can Pembroke do?”
Jane set down her chocolate, and her fingers wrapped about his arm. He could feel her willing him to listen, even though she never said a word, as she pressed closer to his shoulder.
“He can do to Sutton what Sutton did to you. He has the influence you do not. He can draw people to your side and threaten Sutton financially and socially. With Wiltshire’s influence, too, and the influence of the other men in Ellen’s family, Sutton won’t stand a chance.”
Bloody hell, this was the cannon fire Robert had been looking for, the big guns. Robert’s fingers covered his mouth. He so wanted to bring Sutton down alone, but to bring him down at all was more important. Robert slipped his arm from Jane’s grip and, instead, wrapped it about her shoulders, then nodded at Edward.
~
Five days later, sitting in a winged armchair in the drawing room, Robert listened to the men of Ellen’s family, who were spread about the room, discussing their counterattack.
Jane stood behind his seat, gripping its back.
Of course, it would be aboveboard, no setting fires, but Robert’s palms were itching again.
The Duke of Pembroke’s man of business had investigated Sutton’s trading accounts and had identified illegal practices, blackmail, and bribes. Now, Pembroke’s man was buying up stock around Sutton’s, pulling the same trick Sutton had played on Robert. Meanwhile, Ellen’s family was planning the Duke of Sutton’s final humiliation.
“Where is it best to face him?” James, the younger of Ellen’s sister’s husbands, asked.
“At White’s, I would say,” Richard, the eldest of the group, responded.
Jane’s hand pressed on Robert’s shoulder. Looking up, he caught her emerald gaze before she looked away. “I want to be there,” she said to the room.
“She has a right.” Edward backed her up, glancing at Robert.
Robert gave Edward a look which must have appeared sheer steel. Robert didn’t want Sutton anywhere near her.
He reached up and covered her hand.
“Leave it to us,” he answered, looking up at her.
Her eyes shone with challenge. “I am the one who has been his victim.”
“But no longer, with my father-in-law’s influence and ours combined. How do you wish to play it, Barrington?” It was Richard who spoke. Robert looked back at him, having watched Jane do the same, and felt Jane’s fingers stir beneath his own, but he caught her hand and lifted it, then used his grip to encourage her to come about the chair so he could see her more easily. “Jane, sweetheart, it is better if you stay out of it. We have no idea how Sutton will react.”
“He will be angry. If he lashes out—” David Stewart, the Earl of Preston, husband to Ellen’s second sister, contributed.
“If he lashes out, I shall get out of his way. You will all be there,” Jane said to the room before looking back at Robert. “You cannot deny me a part in this.”
Robert sighed, his fingers still gripping hers. “Jane, please have some sense?”
“Let me be there, Robert.”
He knew why she asked. The others did not.
She wanted to keep an eye on him, to protect him. She was still scared he’d do something rash, and terrified of Sutton doing something worse. It had not helped when, after the fire, Ellen had confessed that Robert had killed the man who’d abused her. Though it had been in self-defence, it had still fuelled Jane’s fear.
She didn’t trust Robert’s temper, she’d said, and she definitely didn’t trust Sutton.
He could understand. His endurance was erratic, and she’d put up with the Dukes of Sutton’s games for two generations. She was afraid because she loved him. Robert had ceased being offended by it. He loved her more for it. But they would be best placed to corner Sutton in White’s or the House of Lords, and neither place would admit Jane.
“There is a ball at the Devonshires’ a week hence. That would give us a chance to prepare, and a public venue, if you wish to be included, Lady Barrington?” James smiled at Jane, offering her consolation.
Robert sighed. “The Devonshires’ ball it is then.”
“Sutton won’t know what hit him. I doubt he realised the association between our families when he attacked you. I am sure he had a shock at the Rochester ball. He probably knows his game is over, and that is why he resorted to violence. But we’ll give him no more opportunity for that,” Richard concluded.
Robert shifted in his chair. The thought of paying Sutton back for all Jane had suffered was stimulating. “So, you will let me know who we have on our side? Why do we not establish a meeting at White’s the day before the ball? If one of you can propose my re-establishment, then we shall have Sutton riled. And tell your associates not to let him know where they stand until the ball. I do not want him to get wind of this beforehand. I want the pleasure of seeing the shock on his face when he registers his influence no longer reaches to Jane.”
The men stood.
Robert did, too, smiling. He knew, with the influence of Ellen’s family, half of the House of Lords or more would stand on his side.
Jane hovered beside him as each of Ellen’s family shook his hand and took their leave.
He was looking forward to the Devonshires’ ball. He only wished he’d thought to resort to the use of Pembroke’s power before. Had he taken that tack when Pembroke had approached him in White’s, this would have already been settled, and Jane could have avoided the torment of the last few weeks.
His goodbyes complete, his fingers caught hold of Jane’s as Edward stepped towards him.
“I’ll follow them out if there is nothing more you wish to discuss. Ellen will be waiting for me at the Pulteney, but if you need anything, or if you would rather we stayed here, you need only ask.”
Robert nodded and gave Edward a smile of gratitude. “You’ve done enough. We’re grateful.”
“We are.” Jane let go of Robert’s hand and reached to hug his brother. “Thank you.”
“It’s nothing.” Edward hugged her in return. “We’ll call tomorrow.”
Once they’d separated, Jane walked with Edward to the drawing room door and said goodbye and thank you again.
When the door clicked shut, Jane turned back.
Robert smiled, seeking to be conciliatory. He knew he’d scared the woman witless the other night. Since then, she’d hovered about him, all overprotective.
“It does not feel right to leave it all to Ellen’s family. They have no obligation to me,” he said.
“It would appear to me they care for you, Robert, as Edward’s brother, and they are only talking sense when they tell you to leave it to them. I am very grateful they’ve offered to help.” She crossed the drawing room towards him as she spoke.
“But?” he prompted, hearing hesitation.
Ebony lashes veiled her gaze.
“Spit it out, woman. What thought are you withholding?”
Her eyelashes flickered back up. She had stopped two feet away. “I want to believe they are right, but no one has ever had the upper hand over the Suttons.”
“There is always a first time, Jane. But that is why you want to be there, isn’t it? Because you fear it will descend into violence. He cannot attack me before an audience, sweetheart, and I promise, I will not attack him. There is no need to worry. They will pen him in and bring him down.”
Jane stepped forward, took his hand, and held it to her cheek. “I hope you’re right.”
“Darling, I kno
w I am.” He hugged her. “I am not going to allow Sutton to continue harassing us. This will end it. I wish now I had appealed to Pembroke before.”
The need to protect her was overwhelming. His memory fell back to the sixteen-year-old girl, so full of life. He wanted to give her the opportunity to be that person again.
Chapter Twenty-two
Robert had Jane’s small hand gripped in his as they walked the edge of the dance floor, weaving in and out of the crush of guests. No one had noticed the moment a certain number of the most influential of the ton had simultaneously left the room. Or the Duke of Pembroke himself, open a discussion with the Duke of Sutton and lead him from the ballroom out on to the terrace.
If all was going to plan, Ellen’s father had led Sutton to Devonshire’s library under the excuse of talking business. Of course, Sutton would already know Pembroke had been buying up shares around his investments, whether he suspected the reason, they didn’t know, but to date, to mislead the man, Pembroke had also laid a generous offer on the table for Sutton’s stock. Little did Sutton know the proverbial rug was about to be pulled from beneath his feet.
Robert would still rather not have Jane in attendance, but she’d refused to be persuaded otherwise.
Looking at her now, he saw her face was set in a determined expression. Yet beneath it, she was terrified of facing Sutton, but not so much that she would risk letting Robert face Sutton alone. Foolish woman.
Glancing across the room, Robert met Edward’s gaze as he parted from Ellen.
Edward nodded to identify that Sutton was in place with Ellen’s brothers-in-law and their peers.
They’d brought three dozen of the highest Lords to their side. A dozen were here to face Sutton with their claims. Aside from Sutton’s behaviour towards Jane, they’d uncovered numerous cases of underhanded dealings affecting many of those who’d come to their side. It seemed Sutton was better at making enemies than he was at making friends. Uniting with Pembroke and his sons-in-law had given these men the opportunity for revenge, too. Like Robert, they would not have succeeded alone.
Leaving the pomp, noise, and glitter of Devonshire’s ball behind, Robert led Jane out through the French doors.
