The laughter that followed burst the bubble of tension Archer hadn’t even realized had enveloped them all.
But the light mood couldn’t last. Almost apologetically, Isabella turned to Archer, her brows knitted with worry. “Now that Godmama is gone, you must tell us the truth about how my sister fares.”
Five
“I would have gone up first thing but I was told she was sleeping,” Isabella continued. “And then Godmama arrived and there was no question of leaving you to her tender mercies.”
Archer took the glass of brandy Ormond offered him and lowered his tall frame into the nearest chair. “She is sleeping. Not by choice, though. It just sort of overtook her while we were talking.”
“Poor thing,” Georgina said, taking her husband’s hand. “Rest is probably the best for her, however much she might wish to resist it.”
“Any news on the attacker?” Ormond had remained standing behind Isabella’s chair. His normally pleasant expression had been replaced by one of determination. He’d gone through something similar with Isabella at his country house and knew how dangerous this person could be. “I stopped by the magistrate’s office on our way here. The authorities need to be brought in on this as quickly as possible.”
“Thank you.” Archer rubbed his hands over his face. It was not quite six in the evening but he felt as if it should be midnight given all that had happened. “I doubt Perdita will appreciate it, but I think it’s a good idea to have a proper investigation into this matter. I plan on doing my best to hunt down the bastard, too, but there is no harm in asking for help. Especially when the attack took place in the park. Though his focus seemed to be on Perdita, he might have harmed others in his determination to harm her.”
“Well, she will simply have to accept it.” Isabella’s mouth pursed. “My sister is the most stubborn person I’ve ever known, but in this case, she is overruled. Anything that will keep her safe is perfectly acceptable to me.”
“She won’t like it one bit.” Georgina, who had faced her own terror in Bath earlier in the year, looked worried on her friend’s behalf. “Perdita might be stubborn but I think she’ll see reason once we explain the situation to her. I certainly don’t believe she will wish to put others in harm’s way by continuing to move about freely in town without proper protection.”
Archer sighed. “I thought that’s what I was supposed to be this morning. But you see how well that worked out.”
“You weren’t expecting something like that,” Ormond said. “How could you? The reenactment at the Sumralls’ ball was sinister but it was meant to threaten her feelings, not her person. Thus far, that’s all this fellow has done. It’s as if he wishes to drive her mad. Which is the same tactic he used with Isabella to begin with. It just seems as if he’s moving more quickly this go-round.
“Even so.” Archer’s jaw clenched with frustration. “I should have guessed it. If she’d been seriously harmed I would never be able to forgive myself.”
Isabella reached over and squeezed his shoulder. “You cannot think like that. You are the very reason she’s still alive and resting in her bedchamber. You and no one else. Certainly not Dunthorp.”
“What is the story on Dunthorp?” Coniston leaned forward, and for the first time Archer noticed that he no longer had the cigar and whisky from earlier. Clearly Georgina had exerted her authority there. The thought made him smile for what felt like the first time that day.
“He is also a fast mover.” Archer tried not to let the very real dislike of the other man show in his face. He didn’t trust Dunthorp, but it was as much because he had designs on Perdita, as his attempt to take advantage of her current weakness to stake his claim. “Though I suppose he cares for her in his own way.”
“I’ve never liked the fellow,” Con said firmly. “We were at Eton together and he was one of those boys who took advantage of his bulk to threaten those who were smaller. Once a bully, always a bully.”
“Never met the man.” Ormond had not moved about in the ton until this last year, and even then he preferred to keep his distance from them. “Though I’ll take your word for it that he’s not someone I’d wish to cultivate.”
“I cannot help but feel a bit hopeful,” Isabella said with an apologetic smile, “since he’s the first man my sister has shown interest in since her engagement to Lord Coniston came to naught. But I cannot understand why it’s him of all people. I’ve never been overly fond of him, either. He’s so disgustingly condescending.”
Archer knew that the diffidence Isabella had just shown before voicing her opinion was for his own benefit. Clearly he’d not been as clever at hiding his feelings for Perdita as he’d thought. He’d learned early on what it took to fool his elder brothers, of course. As the youngest of five boys, he’d needed to do so else risk merciless teasing at their hands. But fooling women was another thing altogether. He hoped that Isabella was able to see through to his true feelings only because after the day’s events he was exhausted, and not because he was simply unable to mask his thoughts. The notion of going about town with his heart on his sleeve for all the world to see was unpleasant at best.
Still, he didn’t really care if the Ormonds and the Conistons knew which way the wind blew. He trusted them, or he’d never have told them the truth about the day’s events. And at this point all he cared about was keeping Perdita safe.
“She’s chosen him because there’s no possible way she can fall in love with him,” Georgina said without hesitation, breaking into Archer’s thoughts. “He’s one of those men one likes, but only to a certain point. I don’t know Perdita’s taste fully, of course, but I can imagine that he seems safe enough to her. And I have little doubt that it’s because she thinks she can make him dance to her own tune.”
With an apologetic look at her husband, Georgina continued, “It’s why she chose to become engaged to you, Con. Though I think it was more because neither of you really fancied one another than because she could manipulate you.”
“Well, thank you for that, my dear,” Con responded without any real heat. “And here I thought she chose me because of my excellent calves.”
“They are quite good, aren’t they?” Georgie returned with a speculative look at her husband’s legs.
“Getting back to the matter at hand,” Ormond interjected, drawing groans from the others at his awful pun. “I daresay you’re correct about her reasons for choosing both Coniston and Dunthorp. It’s because she fell hard for Gervase. Stands to reason she’d not trust her own judgment on the matter. And with Dunthorp there’s the added bonus that he’s likely to dance to her tune and not the other way around.”
The others nodded, and Archer once again wished he’d realized what was going on between Gervase and Perdita before it was too late. He might have been able to stop things before Perdita’s trust in herself was eroded to the degree that she’d contemplate marriage with someone like Dunthorp.
Then there was the fact that he really wished he’d been able to treat the bastard to a taste of his own medicine before he got himself killed.
Con broke into the silence that had fallen as they each thought of Gervase and his brutality. “Enough about Dunthorp. What are our plans for keeping the Duchess of Stubbornness safe while she remains in London?”
“I had planned to convince her to leave town as soon as possible.” Archer knew it was a stretch, however. Perdita would not want to run away from a fight. “Perhaps she could be persuaded to go to stay with one of you in your country houses. If you’re willing to go back so soon, that is.”
“I would be more than happy to take her if she can be talked into it.” A line of worry had appeared between Isabella’s brows. “I don’t, however, think that obtaining her agreement will be an easy undertaking.”
“She might be convinced if we two suggested it to her,” Georgina said thoughtfully. “No offense to you three, but we have been in her shoes and know what she’s going through.”
“That didn�
�t work with you,” Con argued. “If I remember correctly, you were dead set against ‘running away’ as you called it.”
His wife shot him an exasperated look. “I would have been willing to leave, but I’d nowhere to go. And I didn’t wish to endanger any of you who chose to go with me.”
Before their discussion could turn into a true argument, Isabella broke in. “She has been due to visit us in Yorkshire for ages. And I’m not above using my condition”—she gestured to her pregnant belly—“to convince her.”
“Remind me never to get myself in the position of being persuaded by you,” Archer said with a shake of his head. “We are in the presence of ruthlessness, gentlemen.”
“Oh, pooh,” Georgie said with a wave of her hand. “It’s not as if you all don’t find equally terrifying ways of convincing us to do your bidding.”
“Indeed,” Isabella agreed. She lowered her voice in an approximation of a man’s. “Isabella, of course you cannot accompany me to the races. Think of the child. Isabella, there is no reason why you should visit the tenant farms this week. Think of the child.”
“Ouch,” Con said to Ormond, whose face was red enough to match the auburn in his hair. “I believe that’s what’s known as turnabout, old man.”
“I don’t sound like that,” Ormond said, his voice clipped. “And I most certainly could not countenance her going to the races in her condition. The crowds get very rough sometimes.”
“Oh, don’t go all stiff upper lip, darling,” Isabella said, taking her husband’s hand. “I was only funning. Besides, I did agree not to go to the races or the tenant farms, so it’s not as if I can blame you fully for it. I could have told you to go rot if I’d wished to.”
“What a charmer you are, my dear,” Ormond said, bringing her hand to his lips. “I look forward to the day when you whisper sweet nothings like ‘go rot’ into my ear instead of to the company at large.”
Now it was Isabella’s turn to blush.
Archer felt his chest burn as he watched the strong affection between Perdita’s sister and her husband. He’d grown up with parents who were just as affectionate as Ormond and Isabella. Indeed, he and his elder brothers had spent a great deal of their boyhoods rolling their eyes at the antics of their, at times, overly demonstrative parents. It hadn’t taken Archer above a few visits home with school friends to realize that not all parents were as happily wed as his own. And though he and his brothers had made a show of being utterly embarrassed when the duke and duchess spoke sweetly to one another, deep down, Archer knew that he would not deign to marry until he knew he loved his prospective bride as much as his father loved his mother.
He’d long ago decided that he’d fulfilled that requirement at least. It was difficult to imagine finding another woman he cared for as much as he did for Perdita. But before he could think of asking her to consider him as a prospective bridegroom, he had to ensure that he would be worthy of her. As things stood now, he was still a younger son without property, but if he had anything to say about it, that situation would change sooner rather than later.
“We need to stop chattering and get to work,” he said, turning matters back to the situation at hand. “And I have an idea of what we might do to make things safer for her in London if Perdita cannot be convinced to leave.”
* * *
Isabella and Georgina were seated at the breakfast table when Perdita appeared the next morning. She’d slept soundly and had awoken with only a goose egg on the back of her head to remind her of yesterday’s debacle.
“My dear.” Isabella rushed to her side and pulled her into a hug. “I’m so pleased that you are looking so well. I was worried sick.”
Perdita couldn’t help but notice that her belly had grown in the month or so since they’d last seen each other. She returned the hug, then stepped back to look her sister over. “You are looking well, too, sister. In fact, I’d say that anticipating a blessed event suits you.” She tried not to let the pang of jealousy she felt for her sister’s situation enter her consciousness. It was not Isabella’s fault that she was newly married and happy. If things worked out as Perdita wished, she’d be married and with child soon, too. But there would be nothing like the love of Isabella’s marriage in Perdita’s. She should be grateful for the knowledge that Dunthorp would never gain the upper hand with her, but at moments like this, she was wistful for the relationship she might have if she would allow Archer closer. Though that was foolish, too, since despite her suspicions about Archer, he’d never come out and declared his affection for her. It was just a hunch.
“Do not try to change the subject,” Isabella said, breaking through Perdita’s thoughts. “You were very nearly killed yesterday. And we are both concerned for your safety.”
“Let her get some breakfast and a cup of tea, Isabella,” the ever practical Georgie said, before giving Perdita a quick hug and shooing her to the sideboard.
Once Perdita was seated at the table, with toast and a rasher of bacon, and the footman had poured her a cup of tea, she spoke up. “What are you two planning? For I cannot help but feel that you’ve been lying in wait for me.”
“Don’t be so suspicious,” Isabella said breezily. “Cannot a sister and friend express their concern for you without being suspected of plotting?”
“Frankly,” Perdita said before biting into her toast, “yes.”
“We are worried for you, Perdita.” Georgie got straight to the point. “And we both know what it’s like to be hunted down by someone with a grudge against us. How are you? How are you, really?”
To her shock, Perdita felt tears threatening. She swallowed and concentrated on clamping down on her emotions for a moment, but she could tell that both Isabella and Georgina had guessed what was going on. Finally, when she was confident she could speak without breaking into sobs, she said, “I am as well as can be expected the day after someone tried to run me down in the park. Still a bit frightened, but determined to be strong about it.”
“I had hoped so much that this person would stop once he’d finished his business with me,” Georgina said, her sincere regret furrowing her brow. “Though I suppose that was a foolish hope given that you were receiving letters from him while we were still in Bath.”
“True enough,” Perdita said with a sigh. “I had also hoped he would keep to the same leisurely pace as he proceeded to threaten me, but that was a false hope, as well.”
“Do you have any guess as to whom it might be?” Isabella asked, fidgeting with her teacup. “Could it have been someone at the Sumralls’ ball? A member of the ton, or perhaps one of the servants? Or even a servant hired temporarily for the ball itself?”
Perdita shook her head. “I have no idea. I must admit that I wasn’t paying much attention to the servants there, but it’s a good guess. And yesterday, I could tell only that my attacker was a man. I have no idea what man, though.”
“That is how he works,” Georgina said, her lips tight. “He doesn’t use the same people every time, so as soon as you try to find the first attacker he’s already moved on to using the next one. Or, as with me, he uses a multiperson strategy, so one element of the attack comes from the same person every time, but he uses another for the second prong, and the same for the third. It’s impossible to get a grasp on who any of them are while you’re trying to figure out what’s going on.”
Knowing her friend was correct, Perdita tried to separate the threads of attack in her mind so that she might consider the possible attackers at both the ball and the park. But her brain was not quite able to do the work this morning.
“Perdita,” Isabella said, reaching over to take her sister’s hand. “What about coming to stay with us in Yorkshire for a few months? You know that Trevor and I would love to have you, and the girls would adore seeing you again. Flossie has had kittens again and they will be ready to find homes, too. You know how you said that you wanted one the next time we had some.”
Looking at her sister’s radiant face, Per
dita wished that she could simply accept her offer and return to Yorkshire with them. She had promised to come for a visit soon and it would be a relief to get away from the place where she’d experienced her most frightening attacks. But there was no way she would put her sister and her family in danger. Certainly not while she was with child and therefore at her most vulnerable.
“You know how much I love you.” she said aloud, “but I simply cannot go with you just now. I have responsibilities here in London. There is Ormond House to maintain while you and Trevor are away, and you know how many committees I am on for the various charities I am involved with. Not to mention the invitations I’ve already accepted. It is simply impossible.”
“I knew you would refuse,” Isabella said with a frown. “But honestly, you mustn’t put yourself in danger simply because you wish to protect us. Ormond has very loyal servants at the country house. And there is no question of another threat like my perfidious maid getting into the house.”
“Of course you would completely disregard my reasons for not being able to come.” Perdita could almost laugh at how quickly her sister had seen through her argument.
“Because your excuses were just that,” Georgie said with a sigh. “Excuses. You have never in your life worried about accepting an invitation then not being able to come. And the committee work is just balderdash. You are only on two that I know of and they are hardly stringent about every member being there for every meeting.”
Before Perdita could get her back up over it, Georgie continued. “I don’t blame you. After all, I didn’t want to leave Bath with you all when I was in a similar situation. But don’t try to pull the wool over our eyes. Just tell us that you don’t want to put us in danger. We are certainly able to understand it.”
“It frustrates me like mad that my being enceinte in particular keeps you from accepting my invitation, but I can hardly blame you.” Isabella rested a hand over her belly. “I am aware that my condition makes people—especially Trevor—wish to wrap me in cotton wool. But the fact that he expressly wishes me to invite you is a measure of how serious he believes the threat against you is. Do not refuse us lightly, Perdita. You are in very real danger.”
Why Lords Lose Their Hearts Page 5
