How to Entice an Earl

by Manda Collins

  “Does he ask you to bring anything to the Pearl?” Christian asked. “Money? Some proof that you didn’t kill Fielding?”

  “Oh,” Tretham said, reaching into his pocket, “here is the note. Read it for yourself. He asks me to bring twenty guineas. And here’s the oddest part. He asks for a note of apology.”

  “Probably wants the note to use for blackmail later,” Christian said, skimming the note. The handwriting was the same as the first note, so he did not doubt the note’s authenticity. But it was odd that the person had changed their motivation. Perhaps blackmail had been the goal all along, rather than terror? Still, remembering what had happened to Tinker, he couldn’t help but feel that neither Tretham nor Linton were out of danger. Just because their tormentor had realized he might use their fear to extract funds from them before he ultimately killed them did not mean that he did not still, indeed, intend to take their lives. “May I keep this?” he asked the other man, noticing that Tretham, too, was beginning to look the worse for wear.

  “Of course,” Tretham said with a dismissive wave. “I have no need of it. I’ve memorized the bloody thing.”

  “Logic says that this person wants your money and not your life,” Christian told the other man. “You can hardly hand over your funds if you are no longer among the living. And yet, there is an escalation of violence here that I cannot like.”

  Tretham shrugged. “I do not worry for myself but my parents are elderly and do not deserve to be put in danger because of some foolishness on my part.” He thrust both hands through his already disordered hair. “If I could go back and undo that wretched race with Fielding I would do so. A hundred times over. Nothing good came of it. Now both Fielding and Tinker are dead and Linton and I are both in the sights of a killer. All for what? Some drunken foolishness.”

  “That doesn’t sound like you,” Christian said, frowning. “What happened to your refusal to let the bastard get you down?”

  “That was before the bastard threatened my family, Gresham,” the other man said with a defeated sigh. “I have never been a particularly moral fellow, you know. I have debauched and whored for years as if I were attempting to outpace death. But I do not mind telling you that this business frightens me. Not on my own behalf—my life is worth little enough—but on my family’s. They do not deserve to be tarred with the brush of my ill behavior.”

  “What do you mean to do about it?” Christian asked, knowing that Tretham would not be speaking so if he didn’t have a plan in place.

  “I mean to find the villain at the Hidden Pearl,” Tretham said, not bothering to hide his plans. “I will go there with the money and with a few choice words, and I shall kill or be killed.”

  “I have another idea, Tretham.” Leaning back in his chair, Christian surveyed the other man through his steepled fingers. “Why not let me go in your stead?”

  This must not have been what Tretham was expecting. “Are you mad? You’ve got a brand-new wife. And a reputation for fair play that I certainly never had. Why the hell would you put that at risk by being seen in a hellhole like the Pearl?”

  “Because I wish to ensure that whoever is threatening you, and my brother-in-law by the way,” Christian said curtly, “is captured before he does the same to anyone else. And because I believe that he will set a trap there for you that he doesn’t mean for you to escape.”

  “And what of you?” Tretham asked again. “Will you be able to escape the trap so easily?”

  “I have some idea of what sort of trap this person has in mind,” Christian said calmly. “And I have years of battle experience. Which you, regretfully, do not.”

  He didn’t bother telling Tretham that he was familiar with the Hidden Pearl and that he thought he might be able to persuade the proprietress to tell him who sent the note.

  Tretham looked as if he would say more, but finally just leaned back into his chair and shook his head. “If you really wish to go in my stead then there is little enough I can do to stop you,” he said. “Besides, you always have been a lucky devil.”

  “True enough,” Christian said. “And I hope to keep it that way.”

  * * *

  Maddie brushed a wayward lock of hair from her brow as she hurried toward Christian’s study to update him on her brother’s condition. She’d sent round a note to Lady Emily and as Linton seemed to be suffering only from exhaustion there was no danger of contagion.

  As she neared the door of her husband’s inner sanctum, she heard voices. She had just lifted her fist to knock when she heard Lord Tretham’s voice saying, “I mean to find the villain at the Hidden Pearl. I will go there with the money and with a few choice words, and I shall kill or be killed.” This stopped her cold. The Hidden Pearl was the place Amelia had told her about. The place where Christian had gone to get information about Linton’s situation.

  It sounded from Tretham’s words as if he’d received another threat. A threat which required him to visit the Hidden Pearl with money. Her mind was already leaping ahead to ways that she and Christian could go along with Tretham. Her husband’s words confirmed that he was thinking along the same lines. “I have another idea, Tretham. Why not let me go in your stead?”

  She felt a pang of affection, and if she were completely honest with herself, something far more dangerous, for her husband. At the beginning of the season she would no more have dreamed that she and Christian could be so like-minded than she would have guessed that Lady Jersey took snuff and wore breeches. But, somehow, over these past few days she’d come to wish that her marriage was a marriage in the truest sense.

  She had looked at her cousins’ marriages and despaired of ever having that sort of love for herself, but Maddie was quite certain now that her affection for Christian, and his for her, was every bit as powerful as Cecily’s for Winterson or Juliet’s for Deveril. For a lady who had spent the past years despairing of ever finding a gentleman she could find worthy of her affection, it was a heady realization.

  Deciding to leave Christian to his discussion with Tretham, as he would doubtless tell her about the trip to the Hidden Pearl when they were finished, she hurried to her room to change her clothes and wash up a bit before she went to look in on her brother.

  When she returned to the bedchamber where they had put Linton, she found Lady Emily seated by his bedside, her hand clasping his while he slept thanks to a sleeping powder the physician had administered. At Maddie’s entrance, she looked up, startled. It was evident from the puffiness of her eyes that she’d been weeping, but her words to Maddie were of gratitude. “Lady Madeline, thank you for sending for me. I know that James would not have done so on his own.” She kept her voice low so as not to disturb the sleeping man.

  “I knew you would wish to know,” Maddie said simply. Feeling a pang of conscience, she went on, “Lady Emily, I regret to say that I inadvertently … that is to say, I…”

  The other woman laughed softly. “I know you informed him of the happy event,” she said, her joy evident in her face. “He told me before he drifted off to sleep. I do not blame you. I should have a difficult time keeping such news to myself as well.” Her eyes softened as she looked down on James’s sleeping form. “You shall be the first to congratulate me. We are to be married just as soon as James is recovered. With or without your father’s consent.”

  Maddie hurried forward to clasp the other woman’s hand. “I am so pleased for you both,” she said, taking care not to speak too loudly. “This is wonderful news. I hope that my father will be able to be persuaded on the matter. Especially when he learns that the succession will be secured.”

  Lady Emily blushed. “I hope you are right. I do not wish for James to lose his family because of me.”

  Maddie shook her head. “I think his relationship with Papa has been fraught with or without your being in the picture. This marriage actually might be something that will persuade Papa to relent. Especially once he hears about the child.” She took in the glow of happiness that suffused La
dy Emily in spite of her obvious fatigue. She imagined how it would feel to know that she was carrying the child of the man she loved and knew that she would be just as elated. “Before I forget,” she said, “I wish that you will call me ‘Maddie.’ We are to be sisters, after all.”

  Lady Emily looked up, surprised, but pleased. “I would be honored. And you must call me ‘Emily.’ I have always wished for a sister.”

  “And so have I,” Maddie said warmly. “Now I will leave you to look over the patient. Please let me know if you wish to stay with us while he is recovering. It would be little enough trouble to have a room readied for you.”

  “I should like that,” Emily said, though she did not look up at Maddie. Her attention had already been drawn back to the man she loved.

  When she retraced her steps to Christian’s study, Maddie was relieved to find that he was alone. He was seated behind his desk, scribbling something on a paper. When she stepped inside, he looked up. Though he seemed tired, his eyes warmed as he gestured for her to come farther into the room. Rising, he took her by the arms and drew her down to sit in his lap.

  “Is your brother all settled?” he asked. “What did the physician say?”

  Briefly she told him about Linton’s condition, and informed him that Lady Emily would be staying with them for the time being. If she’d been expecting him to cut up rough at the news, she was to be disappointed. “That is sensible,” he said, kissing the top of her head. “In her condition, she should not be hurrying back and forth between her own home and ours. When is the wedding?”

  Maddie leaned back to look at him. “What makes you think there will be a wedding?” she teased.

  “My dear, it is as obvious as anything that your brother is besotted. And now that she is to have his child, a wedding is inevitable.”

  She snuggled up against his chest again. “True enough. I believe they will wait until Linton is back on his feet. Of course our parents will need to be informed of it, but I shall leave that to my brother.”

  When Christian did not respond, Maddie looked up at him. “You are preoccupied,” she stated. Then, remembering his visitor, she asked, careful not to reveal that she’d overheard them, “What did Lord Tretham have to say?”

  Was it her imagination, or did he stiffen momentarily? He seemed relaxed enough when he spoke, however. “Oh, he wished to know what we’d learned so far about the threats. Nothing of particular interest.”

  She felt a stab of pain somewhere in the vicinity of her heart. Far from revealing the details of his meeting with Tretham, he had instead tried to fob her off with some story about Tretham asking for a progress report. Was she really so untrustworthy that he would keep such news from her?

  Aloud she said, “Ah, well then. I think I will go have a bit of a lie-down before dinner.” Disentangling herself from his arms, she was surprised when he pulled her down for a kiss before she stood.

  But she wasn’t as good at keeping her feelings to herself as she’d hoped. “What is it, Maddie?” Christian asked, keeping hold of her hand as she stood.

  “Nothing,” she said, turning so that she didn’t have to meet his eyes. “I am tired, that’s all. It has been a busy day.”

  Hurrying out, she shut the door behind her, and leaned back against it briefly. It was true that she was tired. She felt as exhausted as her brother looked. But she would need to find some way to mask her disappointment in Christian’s refusal to confide in her. If for no other reason than to keep him from guessing that she knew about his plans to visit the Hidden Pearl. And intended to go along with him whether he wished it or not.

  Her backbone straight, her will resolute, she headed for her chamber. A small nap would not go amiss, she reflected. Especially if she were to spend the next day preparing for her debut as a gentleman.

  Twenty

  “Will I do?” Maddie asked, twirling slightly before her cousin Juliet’s pier glass.

  When she’d decided to embark upon this latest scheme, she had known it would be impossible to pull off without Deveril’s help. Juliet had been forced to cozen him into helping Maddie—he was quite convinced that Gresham would frown upon her little escapade—but he’d finally relented. After promising on pain of sleeping alone that he would not go straight to Gresham and tell him her plans.

  “Though it goes against every bit of my better judgment, Maddie,” he said sternly, his arms folded over his chest. “I think you would be better off simply telling Gresham about this plan of yours. Then you might at least go into the Pearl with him at your side and he can protect you.”

  But Maddie had insisted. “There is no way that he will allow me to enter such a place, with him or without him. And I think it says quite clearly what he thinks of my ability to assist him in this manner that he did not even bother to tell me about this latest note to Tretham.”

  “You do not know that he doesn’t trust you,” Juliet argued. “It is quite likely that he simply didn’t tell you because he knows that you would force him to bring you along.”

  “Whose side are you on in this anyway?” Maddie demanded of her cousin. They were in Juliet’s little music room where she spent much of her free time. Deveril had joined them when Juliet sent for him and had thus far proved to be more reasonable than Maddie would have expected. Without waiting for Juliet to answer, she turned to Deveril. “Do you think it will be possible for me to get into the Pearl without calling undue attention to myself? I do not wish to put myself in danger.”

  “I suppose I will have to take you there myself,” Deveril said with a sigh. It was clear that he had no liking for this scheme, but because he’d given his word, Maddie knew that he would follow through with the thing. “I have little doubt that Mrs. Pettigrew will put the most perverted construction possible on our arrival together, but I think that should be outweighed by the fact that we are visiting her establishment.”

  Maddie would have asked what he meant about Mrs. Pettigrew, but Deveril forestalled her question with a staying hand. “Do not ask, I beg of you. I already fear that this will irrevocably harm my friendship with your husband. If he hears that I have also explained the nature of same-sex relationships to you as well, I fear he will simply put period to my existence altogether. And I have a wife to think of now.”

  Juliet wound her arms around her husband’s neck and kissed him. “You are the sweetest husband imaginable. Thank you so much for agreeing to help Maddie.”

  “I fear that you are the only wife in London who would thank her husband for agreeing to visit a brothel, my dear,” Alec said, returning the kiss.

  Maddie felt decidedly de trop, and to her horror, a bit jealous as well. The sting of tears behind her eyes made her turn away so that Juliet wouldn’t see. She would go to Mrs. Pettigrew’s and show Christian that she was quite capable of taking care of herself. And she would prove to him that far from needing to be sheltered from such places, she could enter them and emerge with her sensibilities intact. He would be so ashamed, she decided, that he would get down on his knees and beg her forgiveness for not taking her into his confidence.

  That fantasy of Christian’s abject apology still fresh in her mind’s eye, Maddie stood gazing at her disguise in Juliet’s dressing room. Deveril stood back and surveyed her. “You still look like a lady in disguise as a gentleman to me,” he said with a frown. “But I suspect that unless someone is expecting you to be a lady in disguise they will simply think you’re a very small man.”

  “I think you look splendid, Mads,” Juliet said, though her worried eyes told their own tale. “Though I do wish you’d reconsider. Perhaps we could just go to Winterson House and trick Cecily with your disguise.”

  But Maddie was not to be deterred. “I am quite determined to see this through, Juliet. I must. I wish to find this person who has been threatening my brother so that he and Lady Emily can embark upon their life together without fearing for their lives at every turn.”

  “Then I suppose we’d best be on our way,” Dev
eril said with a frown. Maddie could tell that he was not best pleased with their plan, but she would have to fret about her cousin’s husband’s feelings later. For now, she was giddy with the knowledge that she was about to embark upon an adventure. And though she was somewhat ashamed to feel such excitement, she decided to take it as one of the good things about the endeavor. There would be time enough for laments later when she faced Christian’s wrath.

  * * *

  “Lord Gresham,” Mrs. Pettigrew said to Christian as he greeted her for the second time in as many weeks. “Dare I hope you have come to sample our wares? Your little wife is hardly up to the standards of a strapping fellow like yourself.”

  “You have found me out,” Christian said easily, though the words pained him to say. He was doing this for Maddie’s sake as much as anything, he reminded himself, bowing to kiss the brothelkeeper’s hand. “I find that my new bride is not as fond of the bridal bed as one would wish. But enough of that. Now I am in need of some diversion.”

  He felt the woman’s assessing gaze upon him. Doubtless she was trying to determine just how long he might be kept in thrall to one of her girls, and was wondering just how deep his pockets were.

  “We’ve got diversions aplenty, my lord,” she cooed. “Don’t you worry about that, love.” She snapped her fingers, and as if by magic two young women, one a blonde and one a redhead, appeared at his side. Their bosoms were just barely contained by the feebly constructed bodices of their gowns. And without asking whether he might wish it, they wound themselves around him like two particularly winsome snakes.

  “Mariah, Desiree,” Mrs. Pettigrew said, her voice as commanding as any general in the field, “take Lord Gresham to the green room.” She turned her eye to Christian, “Unless o’course you wish for something a bit … different. Though I’ll warn ye that too much different and we charge extra.”