The Gypsy Legacy: Marquis

by Denise Patrick

  But Enderly checked out. He had been at school with Jonathan Kenton, and had been considered a particular friend. Jay hadn’t known what to expect when he realized he and Tina had been the only dinner guests tonight, but the letter had been an unexpected surprise.

  He had known a moment’s uneasiness when Enderly had handed Tina the letter. For a moment, Tina looked as if she might have impulsively embraced Lord Enderly and his blood ran hot. He’d had to ruthlessly quash the sudden emotions in the wake of her polite, but emotional, thank you.

  He wasn’t sure he liked the feeling of being on edge, of watching every man in a room and wondering if any of them had designs on Tina. It made him feel out of control. At least, he told himself, he wasn’t jealous.

  *

  “Has Tina told you of our visit to North Road Manor?”

  Jon turned from watching the game in progress at the table. The shadows in the room made it difficult for Jay to see Jon’s reaction.

  “No,” was the reply. “When did you go there?”

  The two men moved away from the card game and found a small unoccupied table in the corner of the room. The Loughton ball was in full swing, but Tina and the Countess of Weston had yet to arrive. It was rare that Jay arrived at a function before she did, but they’d decided to meet at this particular one although he knew she and the countess were going to drop in at a smaller event being given by the Darnells in honor of their daughter’s engagement.

  “I received a letter from our investigator while we were at Kenwyck. He’d tracked down your grandfather’s family and suggested that if I was in a position to do so, I go and ask some questions. As it turned out, North Road Manor was not far from Newcastle.

  “We were both surprised. Tina even remarked that she’d assumed it was closer to the border near Gretna Green.”

  “I suspect we have always thought that because our grandparents were married at Gretna Green.” Jon waived at a footman circulating through the room. “So, did you find out anything interesting?” he asked as the footman set two glasses on the table.

  “Unfortunately not. But it wasn’t a wasted trip.” Jay sipped from his glass. “A few years back, someone—no one could remember the man’s name, but I’m sure it was Milton—came up there looking for information on your mother’s whereabouts. Since your grandparents never returned after she married, there was very little to be learned. Tina, however, spent the time talking to people about your mother and grandmother. Even though we learned nothing new about Milton she was glad to have gone.”

  Remembering the trip back and Tina’s revelation caused him to be angry all over again at what his brother had done. With Aaron gone, there was no reason to tell Jon, but Jay wished he felt comfortable doing so anyway. What held him back was knowing that Tina hadn’t confided in her brother. Understanding how close Tina was to her brother made him think she hadn’t done so for a reason, so he kept silent.

  “She’s been busy lately and I haven’t really had time to talk to her much. Maybe I’ll drop in for tea and ask her about it.”

  “Ah, you are here.” They both looked up at the sound of the Earl of Weston’s voice. “Geri wondered if you might have arrived before them.”

  He joined them, seeming in no particular hurry to return to the ballroom.

  “Have you been playing escort tonight?” Jon asked.

  The earl grinned. “Of course. And I must say, Thanet, you have outdone yourself this time. My wife is green with envy over your wife’s necklace.”

  “And which necklace would that be?” Jay hadn’t given her any jewelry other than the set that matched her ring. Now that he thought about it, he wondered if the family jewels were still in the bank vault.

  “A diamond starburst. I’d be interested in knowing where you found such an unusual piece.”

  Jay had no idea what Weston was talking about, but Jon came to his rescue.

  “I’m afraid you’re out of luck,” he told the earl. “That particular piece was given to Tina by our great-grandmother, and she’s dead. But I’m surprised Tina’s wearing it. I would have thought she’d put it away and not bother with it anymore.”

  “Hmmm. I’ll have to have a look at this piece, but thank you for reminding me that I haven’t even thought about the family jewels. I hope they are still resting comfortably in the bank vault.”

  Again, Jon spoke up. “Actually, they aren’t—in the bank vault, that is. At least not in yours.”

  Confused, Jay looked at him. “Not in mine?”

  Jon’s grin over his confusion disappeared as he explained. “After your father died, Mama didn’t trust Milton, so she had me move the Thanet jewels from your box in the bank vault to mine. She was afraid he might steal or sell them.”

  Jay didn’t let on that the same thing had occurred to him just then. Instead he said, “It seems that I am more in your debt than I thought.”

  “Any new developments in the search?” Weston asked.

  “No, but Pymm is due back sometime in the next week or so. Hopefully with some news.” Jay said nothing about Tina’s carriage mishap.

  After speaking with the coachman, he was sure the broken pin was not an accident. Carter had shown him the piece in question and it had obviously been tampered with. What neither of them could figure out was when it had happened.

  Getting to his feet, he suddenly had an urge to find Tina. He refused to allow himself to think he needed to see her to ensure that she was fine. She’d been with the Weston’s for most of the evening. Nevertheless, he excused himself and left the two earls in the card room.

  Scanning the ballroom as he entered, it didn’t take him long to find her. From his vantage point on the edge of the floor, all he could see was that she was wearing a deep pink gown trimmed with white ribbon. Dancing with Lord Crofton, she smiled as they moved through the steps of the quadrille.

  The dance ended and he moved to intercept them as they left the floor. Tina’s smile brightened when she saw him.

  “Good evening, my lord. Have you just arrived?”

  He accepted her hand and acknowledged Crofton. “No. Jon and I have been here for some time. We were just catching up.”

  As Crofton left them, Jay glanced down at the jewelry she wore and abruptly lost his breath. The pendant sparkled with brilliant fire, but he was suddenly cold. The room tilted and the sound of a gale force wind echoed in his ears. He was rooted to the spot—hypnotized by the glittering jewels. Unable to tear his eyes away, Tina unwittingly came to his rescue by turning to speak to someone behind her. Dazed, he blinked to clear his head, and watched her laugh at something Lady Weston said.

  What had Jon said about the pendant she wore? It had been given to her by their great-grandmother. His head swam with the implication and he refused to consider that the improbable had happened.

  The opening strains of a waltz floated out over the crowd and Tina turned to him. Taking her in his arms, he fought to keep control of his thoughts as they scrambled for a way to ask what he wanted to know without arousing suspicion.

  “Did you enjoy yourself at the Darnells?”

  “Yes. Although Lady Darnell went on and on about Cecily so much that I think the poor girl is hoping for a very short engagement.”

  He chuckled as he spun her through a turn. “Let us hope she gets her wish, then.”

  She laughed. “Geri said the very same thing on the way here.”

  “Speaking of Lady Weston, Gerald informed me that she covets your necklace. He even asked where I acquired it. I was hard pressed to answer him until Jon came to my rescue.”

  “Oh.” Wariness crept into her expression and she regarded him nervously.

  “He is right, though, in that it is an unusual piece. Jon says your great-grandmother gave it to you.”

  “Yes. Shortly before she died.”

  “How long ago was that?”

  A shadow passed through Tina’s eyes and silence fell around them. “I’m not sure when she died,” she finally answere
d, “but she gave me the pendant right after you returned. She actually came to visit while you were in London.”

  The dance ended and he escorted her off the floor. “It’s unfortunate she didn’t show up sooner. She might have been able to help you and Felicia.”

  “I don’t think so. Nona seemed to always know when we needed her most, and that’s when she would arrive. I don’t know how she knew, but she always did. Besides, it probably wasn’t safe for her to come when Mr. Milton was there. He would never have allowed them to camp on the estate and I hate to think what he might have done had he found them there.”

  “I see.”

  He responded automatically, but his thoughts were years away in the past. Back to a warm June night when a sixteen-year-old runaway had been set upon, robbed, beaten, and left on the road to London. To the gypsy who found him, bandaged his wounds, then took him to London. And to the promise he’d given when she left him at the docks the next day.

  “Someday you will return,” the gypsy had told him. Then she had put a chain around his neck on which hung a gold medallion with a diamond star in the center. “As long as you wear this, Fortune will smile upon you.”

  “But, I can never repay you,” he’d protested.

  “You will.”

  “How?”

  “I have great-grandchildren I have yet to see, but their happiness will depend upon you someday. One is your destiny.”

  “How do you know?”

  “My cards have said so.”

  “And, how will I find her?”

  She’d smiled and produced another piece of jewelry—a diamond starburst pendant on its own chain.

  “She will be wearing this.”

  At sixteen, he’d readily believed her and, in gratitude, promised to do whatever was necessary to assist the unknown great-grandchildren. As a second son who never expected to inherit, it hadn’t been difficult to promise to marry one of them sight unseen.

  *

  Tina was out the next afternoon when Jon dropped by to deliver the jewelry.

  “I expect her back shortly,” Jay told him, “if you want to wait. She promised to be back in time for tea.”

  Jon availed himself of one of the comfortable chairs before the desk in the library. “That’s why I came by now, instead of sending a footman around with them earlier.” Settling himself, he looked at Jay with a question in his eyes. “Did you ask Tina about her pendant?”

  “Not really. I mentioned that you told me your great-grandmother had given it to her. She just confirmed it and said she’d been given it just before your great-grandmother died. I found it interesting that she didn’t know when she died, but knew that she had.”

  “That’s because I wrote her while you were at Kenwyck Manor and told her. I suspect she said nothing thinking that it wouldn’t matter to you.”

  “I did ask her why your great-grandmother hadn’t come sooner.”

  “What did she say?”

  “Only that Nona—that’s what she called your great-grandmother—would come when she was needed.”

  “Sounds like a spirit or something, doesn’t she?” Jon quipped. “But, the truth is that Nona probably would have been burned as a witch two hundred years ago. She just seemed to know things that the rest of us didn’t. I saw her shortly before I arrived at Thane Park for your wedding and she gave me strict instructions regarding how to go about finding my destiny, as she called it. I suspect she did the same with Tina and Felicia.”

  Taken aback by this revelation, Jay was about to ask another question when Tina burst into the room.

  “Jon! I’m so glad you’re here. I’ve wanted to tell you all about North Road Manor and everyone we met.”

  Jon rose to greet his sister with a hug. “I’ve come bearing presents, but I’ve turned them over to Jay for now, so you’ll have to apply to him for them.”

  Tina looked at Jay. “Presents?”

  He smiled and indicated the jewelry cases piled on his desk. “You are welcome to go through them to find anything you wish to wear, but I suspect now you’d rather spend time regaling your brother with stories about your mother’s childhood.”

  He was right, of course, and soon he was alone in the library again with his correspondence. Unfortunately, it no longer held his attention.

  “…she gave me strict instructions regarding how to go about finding my destiny…she did the same with Tina…”

  If her great-grandmother had given her instructions, why had she married him? She couldn’t possibly know he had the other half of her necklace.

  He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.

  She’d been promised Thane Park since she was a little girl. Once Aaron was dead and she knew nothing of the will, she could have married anyone. Instead she waited for him.

  No. She’d waited for Thane Park. Unaware that she was her own security, she’d married him to follow through on a promise—a promise of security. Why else would she have bothered to marry him when she could have come to London and had her pick? It would have never occurred to him that she would be like every other young woman of the ton. That she would be out to marry a title and fortune. And, who else better than someone who didn’t know her.

  He wished, now, he’d told her the truth. A truth that would have complicated things at the time, but wouldn’t have created the Gordian knot he now faced. If she married him merely for his title and fortune, he should be glad that’s all there was. But, he wasn’t. Instead, he wondered if she’d worn her necklace the other night expecting someone to recognize it.

  Did that mean she regretted going against her great-grandmother’s wishes?

  *

  Three mornings later, Tina and Jay set out for an early morning ride in Hyde Park. The air was crisp, a hint of fall on the way.

  Her mount, a glossy black mare named Star that Jay had purchased for her at Tattersalls, was frisky, tossing its mane and stomping its hooves impatiently once Jay set her on its back. She glanced over at him as he mounted Midnight.

  “I’m sure Felicia is glad he’s getting some exercise,” she said, “but she misses him terribly.”

  Jay’s grin caused her heart to miss a beat.

  “Has she said so?” he asked as they headed in the direction of the park.

  She nodded. “Her last letter asked if we had left him at Collingswood.”

  Jay acknowledged her response, but said no more as they rode through the streets. There were no carriages about at this time of the morning, only the hacks of tradesmen going about their morning rounds delivering goods. It had rained the night before and Tina breathed in the cool, fresh air, devoid of the usual earthly smells and odors that seemed to envelop the city streets.

  Watching her husband’s broad shoulders, encased in a dark riding jacket, Tina relived the previous night when she had explored every inch, marveling over the muscles, sinew, and bone that moved beneath the smooth skin of his shoulders and back. Even now a frisson of pleasure snaked through her at the thought. She was sure a more perfect specimen of manhood could not be found anywhere.

  It was difficult keeping her feelings to herself. Understanding Jay’s feelings about his father, she knew he viewed love suspiciously and was trying not to succumb to the same emotion. Despite that, she loved him more each day, finding those times when they were not together boring and flat.

  Her thoughts went back to nearly a week ago. To the night she’d worn the pendant. She’d only done so because it seemed to go well with the gown she wore. Yet, for the entire night she’d viewed every man who approached her with suspicion, wondering if he would be the one to recognize it. When no one except Jay and the Earl of Weston commented on it, she’d been relieved.

  Taking it off later than evening had felt as if she’d lifted a millstone from around her neck. She would not wear it again, she decided. Except for the waltz with Jay, she hadn’t truly enjoyed herself that night at all.

  Reaching the park and entering through the gates, Star surged
ahead of Midnight. Tina laughed at the mare’s antics. Just a little further and she and Jay would let the horses run—it was the reason they came out so early.

  Glancing over at Jay as they reached the far end of the more sedate path, she said, “I think Star is up for a race this morning.”

  He laughed, his deep chuckles infectious. “I’ll give you a head start to the count of five.”

  “You’ll never catch us, then,” she warned, and kicked Star into a gallop.

  Tina was an excellent rider. Not quite the daredevil on a horse as her sister was, she nevertheless could easily hold her own on a spirited animal. As she sped across the grass, the wind whistling across her face and through her hair, she only hoped Milly had anchored the tiny hat with its ridiculous feather on well.

  The feeling was wonderful and Tina knew what it felt like to fly. Glorying in her freedom, she was unprepared for the small movement of the saddle. It wasn’t far, but it was enough to throw her off balance and cause her to try to rein in her mount. Star, however, had no intention of slowing down as they flew over the path, throwing up clumps of grass and dirt in their wake.

  As she heard the sound of hoof beats behind her and realized that Jay was gaining, she felt her saddle slip again and knew a moment’s panic.

  Pulling sharply back on Star’s reins, she tried to bring the animal under control. Reluctantly, the horse began to comply, but it was too late. The saddle suddenly seemed to give way completely beneath her and Tina knew she was falling.

  Jay began to count as he watched Tina take off down the open area. One…Admiring her seat and the slim, green velvet clad silhouette she presented on the mare’s back, he noted that she suddenly seemed off balance. Two…Midnight snickered, eager to be off. Three…There was something about the way she moved that struck him as not right. He sprang Midnight into a gallop. He hadn’t given her to the count of five, but he didn’t care. Something was wrong.

  Giving Midnight his head, Jay watched Tina closely as they shortened the distance. This time he saw her tilt sideways on the saddle. His heart leaped into his throat. She was about to fall! He could see the saddle slipping.