by Regina Scott
Yvette hid a smile, but Julian inclined his head. “You are entitled to your opinion, Lady Carrolton. However, I fear my orders are specific. Yvette de Maupassant will be coming with me.”
Gregory stepped into the path to the doorway. “Care to wager on that?”
The solicitor gazed up at him with a frown. “I don’t wager, and neither did you last time I heard.”
“Good, because you’d lose in this instance. Miss de Maupassant will stay with us. If she must go to London, she will travel under our escort and stay in our townhouse.”
Lady Carrolton clapped her hands. “Excellent. I’ll have Ada start packing.”
Yvette could not take her eyes off him. He stood tall, noble, determination and purpose written on his stubborn jaw. She rose and went to put a hand on his arm.
“But, my lord, you put your family at risk for me. You put yourself at risk.”
His gaze met hers. “Would you ask me to do less?”
“I would,” Lilith put in. “How can you ask Mother and me to share the danger, Gregory?”
“Oh, be silent, Lilith,” the countess ordered. “We are not cowards, and Gregory and your beau will be there to protect us.”
Gregory nodded.
Julian shook his head. “I cannot allow this.”
Meredith spoke up. “You don’t seem to have a choice. I don’t suppose the War Office put the request in writing.”
“Hardly,” he drawled.
She smiled. “Then you have nothing to prove your case, and you are overruled. I trust you understand, Solicitor.”
He shook his head with a chuckle. “Madam, you continue to astound me.”
“My goal in life,” she assured him. She turned to Gregory. “There is an alternative, however. Your townhouse is on Clarendon Square, is it not, my lord?”
“It is,” Gregory acknowledged.
“So is mine,” she informed him. “Yvette could stay with me. Julian is already a known caller—his visits would go unremarked. And she would be close enough for you to keep an eye on her.”
He didn’t like it. Concern flickered across his face, and his arm tensed under hers. But Julian spoke first.
“Out of the question. You have no part in this.”
“No part?” Meredith’s smile was sweet, but Fortune stopped her prowling and scampered under the settee as if she heard the danger in it. “I suggested this assignment, if you recall. I accompanied Yvette here. She is my friend, and I will not abandon her.”
Lady Carrolton rose and hobbled to Yvette’s side. “Neither will I.”
“You need not ask where I stand,” Gregory said.
Julian glanced around at them all, then appealed to the one woman most likely to support him. “Lady Lilith, surely you can convince them to see reason.”
She rose, all majestic grace in her mulberry-colored silk gown, dark head high. “I have never been able to convince my family of anything, Mr. Mayes.” She glided over to stand by her mother. “However, as they clearly feel strongly about the matter, I will support them.”
Yvette leaned around Gregory to stare at her. Lilith offered a smile.
“There you have it,” Gregory said to his friend. “We all go to London, or we all stay here. Which would you prefer, Julian?”
~~~
Meredith waited. She could feel Julian’s indecision. He had his orders, and from a high source by the sound of it. Yet how could he fail to admire his friend’s loyalty and courage?
Make the right decision. Please!
Ever since they had become reacquainted, she’d feared his reaction when he learned she had inherited her money from Lady Winhaven. She had confessed all after the wedding, waited for his condemnation. Instead, he had lamented the fact that, had he known more of the case, he might have found her again sooner. His reaction had melted her heart.
Since returning to London, he had been even more attentive, calling daily, bringing her flowers, offering Fortune treats. She’d begun to hope. When he’d invited her to Carrolton Park to visit Yvette, she’d been happy to accommodate. But, once again, he seemed determined to put her friends in danger. Was everything he did so calculated? How could she be sure of him?
“Very well,” he said now, jaw tight. “Come to London. But I cannot promise the War Office will agree to your plan.”
“Let them try to take her,” Lady Carrolton said, and Meredith pitied the fool who challenged her.
They all agreed to be ready in a day’s time. Meredith scooped up Fortune to keep her out of everyone’s way as they parted. The butler hurried off to alert the staff. Lady Lilith and her mother made for the stairs to begin packing. Lord Carrolton and Yvette had their heads together, requiring considerable bending on his part. Meredith couldn’t help remembering how he’d shielded Yvette at Jane’s wedding.
“A romance, do you think?” she murmured to Fortune.
Fortune’s tail swished lazily from side to side as if she was considering the possibility.
As the earl raised his head, Julian beckoned him over. She didn’t like the two of them in discussion. Who knew what daft plan they’d hatch next? She moved closer to Yvette.
“Have you any concerns about all this?” she asked.
“Many,” Yvette told her, gaze on the men across the room. “Will he be safe?”
Definitely a romance. The wistfulness in her eyes spoke as loudly as the worried tone of her question.
“Lord Carrolton strikes me as a man who can take care of himself,” Meredith told her, holding Fortune close.
“Non,” Yvette murmured. “He trusts too much, expects the best of people. And I have known the worst.”
“You are an unlikely couple,” Meredith acknowledged. “But I have seen successful matches with greater differences.”
She shook her head. “Non, non, you mistake me. The earl has no feelings for me.”
“Does he not? How inconvenient when you clearly have feelings for him.”
“I admire him, nothing more,” she insisted. She lowered her gaze to Fortune, who looked back unblinking, and put her hand on the cat’s fur. “And how is my chat mignon today?”
“Your sweet little cat is as unconvinced as I am,” Meredith said as Fortune closed her eyes and arched her neck to direct Yvette’s touch to the top of her head.
“You are one to talk,” Yvette retorted. “You left Foulness Manor and Harry’s ill-fated house party in charity with Mr. Mayes. You do not appear as enamored now.”
Meredith kept her gaze on Fortune. “Frankly, I don’t know what to make of him. One moment he is all charm, the next all cunning.”
“That is every man I have ever known,” Yvette said, “except two: my father and the earl.”
“I don’t remember my father,” Meredith said. “He died when I was a baby. Most of the gentlemen in my life have been disappointing. But the Duke of Wey proved intelligent.”
Yvette smiled. “You say that because he married your Jane.”
“Proving my point about his intelligence. And Sir Harry has a certain dash. Patience clearly adores him.”
Yvette’s smile grew. “Do all your clients end up marrying into the families they serve?”
“So far, thanks to Fortune.” Meredith looked at Yvette pointedly.
Yvette threw up her hands, startling the cat, who gazed at her with wounded dignity
“Do not look at me,” Yvette told Fortune. “I do not intend to further your record.”
“We’ll see,” Meredith said, and Yvette laughed.
The men broke up their conversation. The earl came to Yvette and requested a private word. As they stepped away, Julian took Yvette’s place at Meredith’s side. Fortune eyed him. He reached out his hand, and she drew back against Meredith.
“Vexed with me, are you?” he murmured, gaze on the cat. “What can I do to earn your approval?”
“Stop threatening our friends,” Meredith said.
He glanced up. “The safety of England outweighs other concerns.�
��
“What of loyalty, sir, compassion?” Meredith challenged. “Are you willing to sacrifice all you hold dear?”
“If it saves the lives of thousands,” he argued.
Meredith raised her chin. “I cannot think of thousands. I am focused on one.”
“As am I.”
She met his gaze and nearly gasped at the tenderness in it. He reached out a hand again, fingers brushing her cheek.
“You are who I think about when I see England in danger,” he murmured. “This war, these intrigues, mean nothing if you are harmed in the process. Am I not allowed to keep you safe?”
“Don’t do this for me,” Meredith murmured back. “I cannot be responsible for putting those I care about in danger.”
“Yet you would ask me to put you in danger.”
Why was it so hard to think when he touched her? She wanted to lean into him, allow his lips to meet hers, feel herself embraced, cherished. But too much was at stake.
“I would ask you to remember there are other people with hopes, dreams of a future. I would ask you to use all your cleverness and cunning to find a solution that keeps Yvette and Lord Carrolton, his mother and sister, and yes, even Beau Villers, safe while still safeguarding England.”
“You ask a great deal.” He lowered his hand, and she caught it with her free one.
“I ask that you think beyond yourself, Julian. I suspect that need to further one’s own goals is what truly separated us in the first place.”
“Perhaps on both sides.”
She could not take umbrage at the thought. She had been so young, so idealistic, so sure she knew more than anyone else. She was wiser now.
“I am no longer that girl, nor you the young man I loved,” she told him. “If you are honest in your pursuit of me, we must both do better this time.”
He nodded. “Very well, madam. I will do all I can. I lost you once, Meredith. I don’t intend to lose you again, even if I have to save every man, woman, child, and cat in England.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Gregory insisted on Yvette staying with him in London. She regarded him with shining eyes as if he’d done something noble. He could have told her the act was entirely self-serving. He’d go mad with worry if she were anywhere else.
As it was, he’d watched every wooded copse they’d passed on the way to the Hampton Court bridge over the Thames. What had possessed his forebears to plant so many trees? His beautiful estate held too many hiding places.
Likewise, he couldn’t trust any of the conveyances they passed on the long road to London. What if Yvette’s cousin had stolen one and used it to force them off the road? Of course, few were as large as his mother’s traveling coach. Built for her comfort with heavy springs and plush seats and pulled by six horses, the great landau could move at a surprisingly quick pace. They left Carrolton Park early morning and were in London by late afternoon.
He glanced around as he ushered Yvette from the coach to the house. Clarendon Square was a newer establishment north of Hyde Park, with larger houses at either end and row houses flanking the sides and surrounding a park in the center. He’d thought the area neat, tidy, orderly when he’d purchased the property. Now he couldn’t help noting the shadows under the trees in the park, the wrought-iron fences blocking off the stairs to the kitchens. In the back were higher stone fences hiding the sight of the alleyways to the mews. Why had he never realized how easily a fellow bent on mischief could sneak up on the place?
At least his home was compact enough that he could easily patrol it. His was one of the wider of the row houses, with two rooms front and back on three floors. Yvette would take the guest room on the chamber story, next to his mother, who was nettled with him.
“I still don’t see why I had to leave my bell at home,” she complained as she climbed the stairs, clutching the rosewood banister. “What if I need you?”
Yvette, at his side behind her, gazed up at the Adams’s ceiling with its frescoed medallion in green and white. “This house is much smaller than Carrolton Park. You have only to call.”
He didn’t like the smile on his mother’s face as they left her in her room.
Marbury, Ada, and their cook, Mrs. Clarke, had come up from home with them and soon had the remaining staff ready for service. Gregory made sure a footman would be on duty at the front and back door day and night. Julian had brought word that the War Office was supplying men to watch the house from the outside as well. Gregory might have been more comfortable if he actually saw them.
“What would be the point in having them visible, mon cher?” Yvette asked when she caught him looking out the window for the third time the evening they first arrived. “The War Office wishes to capture my cousin. If Claude thought I was surrounded and he had no chance, he would not pounce.”
But capturing her cousin continued to prove difficult. Claude de Maupassant did not show his face the first two days they were in London, though it seemed to Gregory that everyone else appeared at his door, from acquaintances and friends to the new doctor his mother had apparently engaged, who scurried up the stairs as if fearing Gregory would accost him.
The first to visit were Miss Thorn and Fortune, arriving before the evening was out to make sure everything was to Yvette’s liking. The lady allowed her pet to stroll through each room, from the Wedgewood blue withdrawing room to Gregory’s wood-paneled study, from the cream and gold dining room a quarter of the size of the one at Carrolton Park to the pink and green guest room.
Just as at Carrolton Park, he had spared no expense in furnishing the rooms for his family’s comfort. Unfortunately, no matter what he had done to decorate the spaces, the place always made him feel as if he’d wandered into a dollhouse. Nothing quite fit his frame.
Still, Fortune approved. She seemed to be smiling as she passed his mother’s room, tail in the air. He wasn’t sure why, but he breathed a little easier.
The next to visit were Gussie Orwell and Lydia Villers. They arrived frightfully early the next morning, according to his sister. Ada hadn’t even finished dressing his mother for the day. Gregory, Yvette, and Lilith met them in the withdrawing room.
“News of our return certainly traveled quickly,” Lilith commented as they seated themselves on the blue damask sofa and matching chairs near the carved wood hearth. They made a pretty picture, his sister in Pomona green, Yvette in a navy that brought out the blue of her eyes, the blond-haired Lydia in frilly white muslin that suited her buoyant personality, and the iron-haired Gussie in a sky-blue gown trimmed in white. Feeling a bit dowdy in his tweed coat, Gregory stationed himself between them and the gauze-draped windows and tried not to look out yet again.
“Beau told us the good news,” Lydia explained with a ready smile. “I’m utterly delighted, Lilith. I couldn’t wait to welcome you to the family.”
Now, there was a woman with character. Lydia Villers had been dangled as marriage bait by her brother for years without success, yet she could smile and be happy for his sister’s upcoming nuptials. He couldn’t help remembering Lilith’s darker reaction when she’d learned Patience Ramsey was to wed.
His sister returned Lydia’s smile more shyly now. “Thank you. I always wanted a sister. And I will do my duty. Once Beau and I are married, we must double our efforts to see you as happy.”
Yvette raised her brows.
Lydia glanced at Gussie. “But I am happy.”
Gussie nodded approval. “Not every woman needs to marry, Lady Lilith. Some of us get on quite well without a man in our lives.”
Lilith’s smile cooled. “Yes, spinsterhood becomes some women.”
“Others enjoy daring adventure,” Yvette put in, twinkle in her eyes, “and great scientific feats. Tell me, how comes the formulation?”
Trust Yvette to find a way to turn the conversation away from a controversial subject. Gregory listened with interest as Gussie explained the plants she had been using to create her healing balm. They had been debating the properties
of eucalyptus when Marbury announced another visitor.
Gregory straightened as Charlotte Worthington glided into the room. She was as lovely as he had remembered, all elegance and grace. Her thick auburn hair was confined behind her head, but her grey eyes crinkled at the corners with her smile. His smile rose to meet it.
“Lady Lilith,” she said, moving forward with a whisper of dove grey silk, “how lovely to see you again.”
“Charlotte.” Lilith reached out to take her hand and draw her closer.
“Miss Worthington,” Gregory said with all propriety even though the lady had long ago given him leave to use her first name. “I believe you know Miss Orwell and Miss Villers. This is Miss de Maupassant, who is visiting us while she is in England.”
Yvette nodded. Gussie shifted to make room on the sofa, but Lydia popped to her feet.
“Where has the time gone?” she cried. “Come, Gussie. We have work waiting.”
Charlotte spread her skirts to sit beside his sister. “Please don’t leave on my account, Miss Villers. I don’t hold a grudge.”
Lydia paled but demurred, and Gussie stood with a frown to offer her goodbyes. Yvette frowned after them.
As soon as they were out the door, Lilith turned to her friend. “What grudge should you hold against Lydia Villers, Charlotte?”
Charlotte patted her hand. “Nothing that need concern you. I had a more important reason for visiting. I came to wish you happy. Worth saw Beauford Villers at White’s. It seems you are to be wed.”
Lilith acknowledged her congratulations with a happy smile, and the conversation turned to wedding plans. The two seemed to forget there was anyone else in the room. Trapped in her chair, Yvette offered Gregory a smile. She did not deserve to be ignored, yet he didn’t like taking attention away from his sister. She had been left out of it often enough.
Charlotte realized the issue sooner. “But where are my manners?” she asked, turning to Yvette. “Forgive me, Miss de Maupassant. I haven’t seen my friend for an age, but that’s no excuse to monopolize the conversation.”
“Miss de Maupassant is used to being ignored,” Lilith said. “She recently served as Mother’s companion.”
