The Earl's Secret

by TERRI BRISBIN

  Anna turned back to watch her sister’s progress across the hilltop and came face-to-face with Lord Treybourne.

  Had he heard her words? Her cheeks grew hot with a flaming blush at the very thought that she had revealed the most personal information. A glance at Clarinda found a slight shake telling her he had not heard her words.

  “Has she tired you out then, Mr. Archer?” Anna complimented herself on her seamless use of the false name.

  “And it is still early in the day, Miss Fairchild,” he answered. “The dampness must be getting to me.”

  “Julia,” Clarinda interrupted. “Please accompany me while we set up the table for our meal.”

  Julia knew that voice just as she did—it was the “I am Lady MacLerie and you are not” tone that commanded obedience from friend, foe or family alike. And, remarkably, she did not question or hesitate, marching off like a good little soldier and leaving Anna in awe of her friend’s ability.

  “If I was a man who gambled on such things,” he began as they watched the two move off to where the MacLerie servants were unpacking a wagon of necessities, “I would place a bet that your sister lived in several other time periods before this one.”

  She smiled. “Julia is quite the student of history.”

  “More than that, she is an aficionado of it.” He looked around at the edge of the hilltop and held out his arm. “Would you care for a more leisurely paced walk? I have not had a chance to savor such a view as this.”

  Anna’s heart pounded and she wondered if he could feel it, being so close as they walked closer to the rim of Arthur’s Seat. She tried to tell herself it was the height, for they stood hundreds of feet above the city now, but she knew it was more about the nearness of the man. Taking a deep breath, she calmed her thoughts and decided to focus on her original quest.

  “So, you return to Lord Treybourne, then?” she asked. If he hesitated, she did not notice, choosing instead to think about the questions to ask.

  “I return to London, Anna, and my duties there,” he said, using her given name.

  “Have you given up on finding Goodfellow?”

  “I confess that seeking information on the man was foremost in my mind when gaining Lady MacLerie’s cooperation today. But, once in your company and that of your sister and the others, I lost interest in him.”

  “Mr. Archer,” she said, needing to direct his attention back to his duties, “I told you some things in confidence and now fear that Lord Treybourne will indeed discover them.”

  Now, she need only to wait and watch his reaction.

  “Your causes are safe, Anna. I will not share what you told me.”

  Now she was in a quandary, for his words depended on her trust in him, and Anna could not say she did. She realized that he picked his words very carefully, not lying but not disclosing his real intentions.

  “That requires that you be a man of honor,” she tested.

  “Have I done something that makes you doubt that?” he retorted. He released her arm and stepped away. “You speak of the liberties I took while we were alone yesterday.”

  She had not been referring to that, but if he wanted to think it, she would allow it.

  “I will plead that I was overcome with relief at finding you and then removing you from danger, that I permitted my baser feelings through. Anna, I do not regret kissing you, but I do ask your pardon if it offended you.”

  “I was not asking you to apologize. Any sin against propriety was as much mine as yours.”

  “So now that we have decided that neither of us was offended by my kisses, may I say something else about yesterday?” Anna knew that this was more appropriate conversation for betrothed couples, and that did not describe them. However, his actions prior to their more personal moments had saved her from death or serious injury. “Of course you may. I owe you my life, so please speak freely.”

  “I…” he began and then stopped, as though searching for the words. Her own heart seemed to stutter as his words did. “There are so many things I would say if I could, Anna. But too many depend on my discretion, not the least of which is you. I must return to London, but there are many reasons I would stay if I could.”

  “Mr. Archer, a few kisses are hardly something to cause such consternation. I expected no promises, if that is your concern.”

  “You are misunderstanding me, Anna,” he said, taking her hand in his. “I am only bothered because I sense there is a companionship and shared concerns and interests between us that I cannot allow to advance. In spite of any desire to do so on my own part. Too much and too many are at stake.”

  His words reflected her own when she’d first discovered his connection to Lord Treybourne. Now, he was saying that he felt something more between them, too? But, was it Mr. Archer or Lord Treybourne who felt it?

  “I came here searching for Mr. Goodfellow and found you, instead. I regret that I cannot stay to see things progress between us.”

  “Anna!” Aunt Euphemia called out.

  Apparently their discussion was at an end and she was no closer to discovering anything else about him, or even which man had engendered such feelings within her. She placed her hand on his arm and waited for his gaze to meet hers before speaking.

  “For my part, I would wish that we had more time to further our acquaintance as well. I must ask, though. What will you tell Lord Treybourne about the Gazette? Or Goodfellow? What will your counsel be to him regarding the essays?”

  He laughed then and it made her smile. So masculine yet with such a boyish quality. “It would seem that every time we share some intimacy—emotional or physical—the discussion comes back to those damned essays.”

  “We have not spoken of them. I thought that they were the reason you sought me out yesterday at the school.” With the way her stomach was turning little flips inside, Anna feared she would reveal everything to him in a flash of weakness. So, bringing up the magazine and its famous writer helped her regain the control she was quickly losing.

  “Very well then,” he began. “I thought that you were able to convey my concerns to Mr. Goodfellow more than adequately and he apparently was willing to forge ahead with the focus remaining on the issues.”

  “So, Lord Treybourne’s answering article will be as balanced?” she asked, watching closely as he assembled his answer.

  “I hope so.”

  The tone of his voice as he replied gave her pause, for he sounded very unsure of the certainty of it. Did he not write his own articles? She could not ask him that question without revealing that she knew who he was, so she asked another instead. “Does Lord Treybourne not control his own words? You mentioned those around him when we spoke of this before.”

  He guided her a few steps and then paused at the point where the city was directly before them. Old Town, New Town, Leith and the Firth, she could see it all from here. It was her favorite spot to use as an escape when the burdens she carried became too heavy. It was her thinking place and planning place. Now, even after he left, she would think of him when she came here.

  “Political endeavors are rarely solitary exercises, Anna. The circle widens and widens until many are involved, some few holding power over the many. Lord Treybourne is not one of the many, as most think him to be.”

  She gasped, for he had just given her something to use against his own positions. “Is that somehow a bit disloyal to the man who employs you?”

  “Lord Treybourne would be the first to admit it, if you spoke to him. He is a part of the whole, mayhap the recognizable one, the so-called torchbearer, but not the leader.

  “His father, the Marquess of Dursby, leads the Tory causes. He is the one you and Nathaniel and Goodfellow must fear, or at the least, respect. He is the true puppet master for the party.”

  “Why are you telling me these things? You must know I will share them with Nathaniel and that Goodfellow will hear them, too.”

  “I knew the night of Lady MacLerie’s party that he was there or had inf
ormants present. You,” he said as he reached up and caressed her cheek with the back of his hand, “are one of those who help him in gathering information.”

  Torn between denying it and the risk of revealing even more to him, Anna chose another way. “A lady never tells, sir.”

  “Tell him what I have disclosed to you about the mechanics of the Tories. Tell him to use it if the need arises once I am gone back to my duties there.”

  “Anna!” Aunt Euphemia called to her. “Come, the meal is set!”

  Still trying to understand his motives behind the revelations, Anna waved to her aunt and then turned back to Lord Treybourne. The only thing she knew to be true was his name.

  “David, I am so confused,” she said, finding the declaration not so painful after all.

  “As am I, Anna. I wish…” he said as he had the night she discovered the truth about him. The night that everything in her life had turned upside down. “I wish…”

  Clarinda’s approach stopped anything more from being said, but Anna understood what had just happened without any more words. David had said goodbye. There was no possibility of a future between them, not with all the reasons she knew about, and she was certain there were more from his point of view that she did not know. So, he had acknowledged that there were some of the softer feelings between them and said goodbye.

  The most honorable thing he had done was to arm her with something to use if needed, if his father did not observe the bounds of battle that David had worked to establish.

  “I know we did not give you time to eat this morning, so you must be famished.” Clarinda walked between them and took Anna’s arm. “Cook has prepared a lovely meal and Aunt Euphemia refuses to begin without you, informal meal or not, she says.” After leading her a few steps away, she called back. “Mr. Archer, are you coming?”

  So many emotions were coursing through her at this moment that Anna thought she would not be able to eat a morsel. But, once at table, and it was indeed a table brought there and set as though they were at home, the smells enticed her to try some of the dishes. Anna glanced back to see Lord Treybourne still standing at the edge, staring down at the city. Clarinda did not bother him with another call to eat, allowing him instead his privacy to consider whatever thoughts plagued him now.

  Part of her wanted to join him there and tell him that she knew of his deception. Part of her wanted to go back to the time when she thought him Lord Treybourne’s man. But, most disconcerting to her was the part that wanted to return to a time before any of this had happened and begin it all again differently. If only time travel, as he had suggested her sister did, truly existed. If only her heart were not breaking.

  If only.

  David stood at the rim looking over the entire city, and wondered what to do next. He hoped Anna understood his words, but feared she did not. Once back in London, he must do everything he could to protect all that she had accomplished here. Irony charged in again and he only knew that he was damned forever if his presence here caused her harm.

  Accepting that he must return to the gathering that he had asked Lady MacLerie to arrange, David took a deep breath and walked back to the group. The lady had made an outstanding effort and could challenge any battlefield commanders on organization, arrangements, supplies and mustering the troops, and on such short notice. Lady MacLerie probably expected a different outcome than the one that was playing out before her, but nothing in her manner gave away any other reactions.

  “Mr. Archer, there is a bench if you prefer to sit.” She welcomed him and pointed to the seat open next to Anna. “Or, I can fix you a plate and you may pace around as men seem wont to do.”

  “I will join you at your lovely table, Lady MacLerie. I would hate to not partake of your wonderful arrangements after enlisting your help in setting this in motion.”

  “Mr. Archer, is there a place like this where you live in London?” Julia asked between forkfuls of a dish that smelled of roasted fowl.

  He waited while Lady MacLerie filled his plate with a wide variety and huge portions of everything prepared. He nodded his thanks and tasted one or two dishes. If nothing else, he could always fall back on proper manners, when all he wanted to do was scream out his rage against the way of things.

  “Miss Julia, I can assure you that there is nothing to compare with this in London. We have greens and parklands, we even have some hills and valleys. But I suspect there is no other place in Great Britain that has this view.”

  The meal passed amiably with pleasant conversation and no one ever knew his torment at planning to leave behind the woman he loved.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “Have you ever seen such a crush at this time in the year?” Clarinda asked.

  “No, of course not,” Anna answered, completely disinterested in those who attended tonight’s ball in the Assembly Rooms.

  She had refused at first, as she always did. Then Clarinda had used tactics not shown before to force her compliance and attendance. Threats about leaving Aunt Euphemia behind for the whole of the winter when the MacLeries returned to their family estate were made. That respite, when her aunt visited the MacLeries, was the only time of the year when she answered to no one else and Anna knew her sanity would be in danger if she forfeited that visit.

  Now, she stood just next to the front entrance watching as the latecomers jockeyed for a place inside. Not willing to exchange the only place where the air moved about and offered some relief from the heat, Anna remained there when Clarinda went off to dance or to speak to another of her friends or acquaintances.

  “There is talk of Lord Treybourne’s arrival in town.”

  Lord MacLerie pushed his way over to her and offered her a glass of lemonade. It was warm and watered down, but at the least it was wet and refreshing. As was his habit, he took a position with his back to the wall, using his height to gaze out over the rest of the crowds.

  “Ah, but we two know that he has been here for some time,” she replied, Planting a firm smile on her face, Anna met his startled stare. “The truth has a way of coming out, my lord.”

  “So it does,” he said, nodding to her. “The gossip says that Dursby House was opened just two days ago and two of his lordship’s friends are staying there already.”

  “Really? I wonder what Mr. Archer could tell us of the situation.” There was a sarcastic edge to her voice that even she could hear, but she did not try to control or minimize it.

  “I am sorry, Anna. Truly.” He leaned down to keep his words from being overheard and whispered, “I thought I could protect you from his deception, and only added to your pain.”

  Tears gathered and she blinked them away. Crying had not helped. Anger had not helped. There was nothing that would help dull the pain of facing all of the aspects of this situation for her. Soon, she would return to her usual schedule, the one she carried out day after day, week after week, before he arrived. She would concentrate once again on the causes so important to her and Nathaniel. She would regain all of the control she’d lost because of him. Because of falling in love.

  The next step was to gather her anger and direct it, with Goodfellow’s help, at the person responsible for most of her misery. Lord Treybourne.

  “Here comes Clarinda now. I will warn you that she is bringing two young men with her. Oh, too late to escape, for she is pointing at you.”

  Sometimes his height was an appreciated advantage for finding someone she was seeking. Now, though, it was simply annoying.

  “Robert, I wanted to introduce you to two visitors from London. Lord Ellerton, Lord Hillgrove, this is my husband, Lord MacLerie. And this is Miss Anna Fairchild.”

  She curtsied to them and accepted the introduction, but she did not fail to see the looks exchanged when her name was mentioned.

  “They are Lord Treybourne’s friends and staying at his family’s home here.” Clarinda whispered the information to her, but the stares and murmurs around them revealed their identities as they approached.


  “There is much speculation, my lords, about whether or not the infamous Lord Treybourne will make an appearance in his adversary’s stronghold. Can you offer any information about that?” she asked.

  Did these two know about Lord Treybourne’s plans to seek out Goodfellow here? Did they know of the false identity that he was employing?

  “I fear I cannot offer any clarification at all, Miss Fairchild. We have spent a few weeks at the Dursby hunting box in the Cairngorms and are on our way back to London,” Lord Ellerton replied.

  “And you have not seen his lordship?” she asked again.

  “The earl is quite busy, you know. With his position in Commons, family responsibilities and writing those articles, the man barely sleeps.” Lord Ellerton was looking quite uncomfortable at her direct questions. When he threw a glance at his companion, the other one jumped into the conversation.

  “Hasn’t come hunting with us in years, has he, Ellerton?” Lord Hillgrove asked his friend. Shaking their heads in unison, she knew they’d seen him.

  Robert must have felt some pity for them, for he asked them about their estates and the talk turned to hunting, horses and houses. Clarinda stepped over to fill the breach in conversation.

  “They have seen him. They were boasting when I found them at the refreshment tables,” she said quietly.

  Anna thought to confide in her friend, but hesitated to do so now. Clarinda would not be pleased when she discovered the truth about the man she seemed to be aiding in his pursuit of her unmarried friend. Robert would bear some of the brunt of it, but to inform her now would be unforgiveable.

  Before she could respond, a footman made his way to their little group and handed a note to Lord Ellerton. First his lordship’s face turned red and then he paled by the end of the note. He handed it to his friend, who had the same reaction before they explained that they must take their leave. Curious to see the cause of it, Anna turned to follow them when Clarinda stopped her.