His eyes darkened with anger. “If this is the way you see me, then perhaps it would be better if you don’t present my case to Domnika at all, but rather stay out of the matter completely.”
“I cannot do that. I cannot stand aside and watch people I love make grievous errors and say nothing. I’m sorry that you are hurt by my honest appraisal of your past behavior. It was not said to injure you, but to help you become the man you were meant to be.”
“Have you ever considered that I am the man I was meant to be? You and Uncle John had these great expectations of me. Maybe you were all unrealistic dreamers. Maybe this is all I was ever meant to be. I am hardly a monster! I am probably as good or better than half the ton.”
“If that is all you aspire to be, then I promise you, you will never get Domnika. She has very high standards and there will be very few of the ton who stand a chance of meeting them. As you are now, you have no chance for her.” Amy stood up and walked to the window. “But you don’t believe that. You think all you have to do is get her alone in a locked room and you can claim her love.” Turning around she stormed towards him. “You took advantage of her innocence when we were under your protection, but we are both wise to the ways of men now, and you cannot cheat your way into her heart through seduction. The only way you will win my friend is by becoming the fabulous man Uncle John thought you to be.”
Chapter 32
Gunter edged his horse beside Antonio’s. “You should ride in the carriage and try to get some rest, you look as if you are ready to fall off that horse.”
“Maybe I will,” Antonio replied. “How are you holding up?”
“I’m fine, although I am looking forward to getting back to Amy.”
“Is your back hurting you?” Antonio asked with worry.
Gunter smiled. “No, my knees ache like the devil again.”
When they stopped to give the horses water and rest, Antonio tied his horse to the back of the carriage and laid down upon the back seat for the first sleep he had had in two days. The removal of Sicily from London had gone smoothly, but until he was certain the servants at Soundberry were firmly against the mistress, he had not dared to leave her alone. Thus, one of the three was always in her room assessing and correcting all possible ways in which she might escape. When he was not watching Sicily, he watched the servants, looking and listening for anyone feeling sympathy for the poor mistress.
When they first arrived that was literally everyone, however the gossiping doctor did his job and the tide soon turned against her. Once Mrs. Cole declared her a plague from Satan, all the servants fell in line. He only hoped Mrs. Cole didn’t kill her before he managed to return to London. Otherwise, he would have Inspector Yardrow down his throat for certain.
With only that one concern, he experienced no trouble falling into a deep sleep, despite the number of holes and ruts Brick found to drive the carriage through.
He did not wake until Gunter banged on the side of the door. “We’re approaching London.”
Antonio forced himself up, his body aching for a few more hours of rest. He had Brick stop the carriage, so he could remount his horse. “Brick, take the carriage back to the house and retrieve your horse. I’m going to stop off at Nicolas’ and check in with my old boss.”
Gunter looked surprised. “Nicolas may still be at Ann’s.”
“He had better not be, but I wasn’t talking about Nicolas, I was talking about the butler, Mars. I have a fondness for him. Nicest boss you could ever ask for. Nicolas told him he plans to sell the London house but couldn’t afford to give him a pension after his family has faithfully served the Soundberry mansion for ten generations.”
“Bastard,” Gunter grumbled.
“I need to let him know when I was at the estate I found a letter from the colonel indicating he had set aside money for Mar’s pension in a London bank.”
Gunter smiled at him. “It’s a damn shame the colonel didn’t make you the earl.”
“Shudder the thought! I’m no gentleman, and I thank God for that! You should head straight on to Ann’s and get those knees tended.”
Chapter 33
Mars looked less than pleased as he opened the door to Antonio.
“You look…miffed. Is something wrong?”
Mars sighed and eased outside the door and shut it, so they both stood on the front step. “It appears that the young master is determined to proceed with selling this fine house. All the staff is to be let go at the end of the week except for myself and Mrs. Jones. And even the length of our continued employment is uncertain, since it depends upon how quickly a buyer can be found.”
“I expect it will go quickly, but the buyer will most certainly want you to remain, Mars. There’s not a finer butler in all of London.”
Mars smiled. “Thank you for your kind words. However, if the new owner is simply moving to a new location, which is most probable, then he will already have a fine butler. I suppose I should set about seeking a new position, but the truth is, sir, that neither Mrs. Jones nor I have the slightest idea how to do that. We were both born in this house and assumed we would die here as well. Now we could very well find ourselves dying in the streets.”
“Well, that is not going to happen,” Antonio assured him. “I bring you both good news. While at the estate, I went through documents in the library and came upon a note in the colonel’s ledgers that indicated he had secured money in a London bank to ensure a fine pension for you and Mrs. Jones. I’ve written the bank name and the account numbers down on this paper. I am certain all that you need to do to claim the money is to present yourself to the bank with these account numbers. According to the colonel’s note, the monies are already in your names.”
Mars stared at the sheet of paper in shock.
“The colonel always looked out for those who served him well. I was certain there had to be a pension for the two of you. Took a bit of searching, but I found it.”
Mars did an admirable job of controlling his emotions. “I presume that the current master was not aware of this pension?”
“I’m sure he wasn’t. But given the circumstances, I wouldn’t actually mention it to him.”
“I should say not or else he would insist I return it to pay off his bills,” Mars muttered. “And still he orders new suits.”
“He’s ordering new suits?”
“Yes, from his comments to his new valet, I believe he is planning to court a lady.”
Anthony growled in outrage. “Everyone keeps telling me he was a good man before he became the Earl, and there were times during my employment that I saw some potential, but recently I’ve wonder why I even bothered saving his life.”
Mars smiled. “For the same reason this house remains in order despite the current chaos. We are men who do our jobs to their fullest.”
Antonio gave a soft laugh. “Didn’t you find me to be less than adequate as a valet?”
“When you took on the job, you did a passable performance,” Mars said. “You were always respectful to me and you never caused disruption in my staff, which is what I feared the day you entered, and all the young maids swooned. The master seemed to enjoy your impertinence, and I vicariously took great delight in it. While it was obvious to us all, that you were not a valet, I knew you had some firm purpose here, and eventually I would divine what it might be.”
Antonio smiled. “How are you doing on that?”
“I believe you were patiently waiting for a most amazing young woman to visit her guardian.”
“And how did you ever come to that conclusion?”
“A good butler must be a keen observer of all the people in the house, both servants and gentry. There was a marked change in you when the young lady arrived. And since you had shown no inclination of falling in love with any of the maids who cast themselves at your feet on a daily basis, I concluded that you had fallen in love with Miss Amy before she arrived.”
“Mars, you have impressed me greatly today. And I stand
by my claim that you are indeed the finest butler in all of London, and if I should ever come to need a butler and housekeeper, I hope I will be able to persuade you out of retirement to work for me.”
Mars held out his hand and shook Antonio’s. “It would greatly please me to do so.”
Nicolas’ voice could be heard bellowing for Mars.
Mars sighed and opened the door letting Antonio in.
“Allow me to announce you, sir,” he requested and entered the library.
A moment later, Nicolas stormed out into the hall and took a swing at Antonio. Even tired, Antonio was fast enough to stop the blow with his arm. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
“You bloody hypocrite! Ann tosses me out of her house to protect the young ladies from my influence, while you are allowed to enjoy the delights of my ward without a care!”
Antonio grabbed him by his collar and pushed him into the library, shutting the door behind him. “I just spent two long hard days taking care of your mess. I haven’t slept and I’m tired as hell, so I’ll warn you right now, I am lacking in patience, and if you are not very reasonable in this conversation, there is a good chance I will toss you out those glass windows.”
“It is very hard to be reasonable when you have debauched my ward.”
“I have not even come close to debauching her. In fact, I have done nothing more than kiss her on her forehead.”
Nicolas shook his head. “You expect me to believe you have no desire for her. Please! I have seen the way you look at her.”
“I have a great desire for her and I hope to marry her.”
“And you are trying to ensure that outcome by getting her with a child perhaps?” he taunted.
“You are coming perilously close to meeting the cobblestone outside that window with your face,” he warned. “I have already told you, I have treated her with the greatest of respect.”
“Well, someone hasn’t and if it isn’t you, then who could it be? She’s protected better than the queen.”
“What do you mean someone hasn’t? Enough of these damn riddles, Nicolas. If you know something to make you believe someone has harmed her, tell me exactly what you know and who told you.”
“It was her words that alerted me to the fact. She said she was wise in the ways of men.”
“I need the context of that statement.”
“What difference does it matter? Her words were very clear. She has been compromised.”
“I don’t believe she has. And if you do not tell me the context in which the statement was made, I will follow through with my threat.”
“She said that I’m not worthy of Domnika, and if I thought I could seduce her again then I was wrong, for they were both wise to the ways of men now.” Nicolas stared at him. “As you can see, the context does not alter the meaning or implications of her words.”
Antonio buried his head in his hands. He was so tired, far too tired to be tormented with foolish nonsense. “Nicolas, did you lie when you said you had not ruined Domnika?”
“I have not ruined the girl,” Nicolas replied with clenched teeth.
“Yet in context, Amy said they were now wise in the ways of men. Has it ever occurred to you, Ann may have lectured them that a man could be less than honorable in his affections. After what happened to Catherine, I can easily imagine the girls received a very frank and non-flattering discussion about the ways of men.”
Nicolas slammed his fist on his desk. “I wish to hell that Ann would mind her own business.”
Antonio left the house before he truly did toss Nicolas out the window. All the way to Ann’s house, he muttered beneath his breath about never knowing a more selfish, self-involved child pretending to be a man than Nicolas Dupree. Thank God, he was done with the man once and for all!
Amy’s request to find her mother’s brother came to his forethought. He had promised he would investigate the moment he finished with Nicolas. Despite his fatigue, he turned his horse towards a bleaker part of town.
He wished he had one of the men at his side. Even in daylight, this part of town was not safe. Fortunately, he did not look like a gentleman after a hard day’s ride. He stopped in a pub he knew well and asked the owner if he knew a Tom Goodheart.
“Never comes in here, of course,” the man said and spat tobacco on the floor. “But I know of him.”
Antonio sighed. If Black Bart didn’t like a man, he had to be scrapping the bottom of the muck. Black Bart thought several murderers and rapist to be ‘fine fellows’.
“What do you know?” Antonio asked and slid him a five-pound note.
Black Bart looked at the money and then pushed it back. “I can’t take your money on this one, Antonio. You’d never forgive me, and I don’t want to be on your bad side. We’ve done too well by each other, we have.”
“Does that mean you do not intend to tell me anything? Because that could put you on my bad side as well.”
“I’ll tell you what I know, but whoever put you onto Goodheart must have given you a wrong name to throw you off while they skipped town. Goodheart’s not involved in anything you care about.”
“What is he involved in?”
“Saving souls, feeding the hungry, finding homes for unwanted children. Not a bad fellow except when he convinces my girls to give up their fancy lives and take on more ‘honorable’ work. I’ve lost three to his preaching this year, but they was getting old anyway. I got no real beef with the man. Last winter, he saved the lives of several of my customers, who are still customers, so all in all, we’re probably even, he and I. Nope—got no beef.”
Bart added, “Whoever put you on him is a liar. The man don’t steal and don’t lie. He meddles, but if you tell him to get the hell out, he leaves. He knows a lot about what goes on around here, but he’s mum with the bobbies. He’s not some fancy do-gooder coming down here from the mansions to play at being charitable. He lives here, has all his life. Don’t know why he’s so happy all the time. His parents left him on the wharf when they learned they’d have to pay fare for him to board the ship. Just left him. You’d think a boy dropped like that would end up mean, but he didn’t. Seems odd that people mean enough to leave a child would have one that grows up so nice. Look at you: you had nice parents…”
Antonio glared at him. “And you had bad parents, doesn’t seem to have much influence either way.” He pushed the five back to Bart. “You told me exactly what I needed to know, except where I might find him.”
“This time of day, no telling. He’s all over the place, gathering up people who need help. But come evening you can find him at the tenements across from Wooly’s market. He rents about half the building now and fills it up with the people he collects.”
“Where does he get the money to pay the rents?”
“Some charity or church or something pays for it. He’ll give you a bible to read if you want it, but he don’t force it down your throat like some of them. As I say, got no beef with the man…”
Antonio smiled. “I think you even like him.”
“If he’d stop stealing my girls I might.” Bart scratched his one-day beard and then frowned. “I’m telling you true, whatever someone has fingered him with, he didn’t do it, and if he disappears, it’ll hurt a lot of innocents, and I know you’re a stickler on that.”
“I’m not planning to hurt him,” Antonio assured him.
“Then what do you want with him?”
“I’m not sure until I meet him. Any idea at all where he might be? I really don’t want to ride all over London.”
“You give me your word you aren’t planning to hurt him?”
“My solemn word.”
“Then try the docks. They are bringing in a load of children today and Goodheart will probably try to buy up all that he can. He was taking up collections this last week, even managed to hit me up for a pound or two. I know he ain’t going to waste the money on building a church or nothing, so I figure it was to buy children.”
Chap
ter 34
Antonio forced his heart to harden as he watched the small frightened children pulled from the hull of the ship and led into the warehouse. The sight of their dirty faces struck him hard. They looked like little soldiers in battle shock. He tied off his horse and paid a boy to watch it as he stepped inside the warehouse. He received a card with the number 72. He walked through the crowd of men and the occasional women.
It was a strange mix: gentlemen of the ton looking for young boys and girls to fulfill their jaded pleasure; procurers of flesh, some well-dressed, others not; plus a few madams, all looking to freshen their offerings. While ranging from poor to exceedingly rich, they all bore a resemblance as if the stain of their depraved lives had permanently marked them. There were only two men who stood out as different. One was a man that strongly resembled Amy with dark brown hair and dark eyes. The other was Inspector Yardrow, standing in the back corner watching someone in the crowd.
Antonio continued to wander until he arrived at Yardrow’s side. He made no indication he saw or knew him.
“I need to know if you are here for the children or for some other reason,” Antonio said in a voice so soft it would not be heard by others, even those close by.
“Why do you need to know?” Yardrow asked.
“Because I do not wish to be caught in a raid for attempting a good deed. Besides it will be kinder to my purse if you plan to save them from their fate.”
Yardrow did not reply for several minutes. “I am here for other reasons.”
Antonio sighed. “I am trusting your word on this, which is against my better judgment, since I know how you long to see me behind bars.”
“I have other fish to catch at the moment. Ones that are easier to reel in.”
“Then good luck with your fishing.” He moved closer to the podium, placing himself momentarily beside Goodheart.
Love's Betrayals (The Extraordinary Life of Amy Winston Book 2) Page 16
