by Rebecca King
When he woke up in the morning, he realised he had not only had his first good night’s sleep in, well, months, but he had also forgotten to get any work done. Still, there were benefits to waking up in bed with a woman in his arms, and he quickly set about taking advantage of each and every one of them.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Later that morning, although Marcus had already eaten breakfast with Jess, he took a seat at the table in the dining room with the other guests. He wanted to take a closer look at them. Unfortunately, he got no more clues. Their disguises were either so good that nobody noticed them, or the men weren’t in disguise. In which case, either one of them could be Sayers.
“God in Heaven,” Marcus grumbled once the last of the guests had walked out of the house.
“What’s that?” Jess asked, peering over his shoulder to watch Mr Brammall turn out of the gate. “What’s wrong?”
Marcus watched the man saunter off as casually as though he was taking nothing more than a daily stroll through the village. Only a handful of people knew he was a criminal mastermind practically half of the War Office was investigating.
He turned to Jess and drew her lovingly into his arms.
“Unless you have any strong objection, I want to search the guest’s bedchambers while they are gone.”
“Why?” Jess looked up at him with a frown. Her first instinct was to refuse, but there was something in his eyes that made her hesitate. He knew something. “What are you searching for?”
“I think one of them may have taken the key,” he murmured. “However, I also think they are not all they appear to be, Jess. I have seen them creeping around at night. There is more going on than you realise.”
Jess sat down at the table with a heavy thump. Marcus couldn’t bring himself to lie to her. He sat down beside her. Picking her hands up in his, he told her everything he knew about Sayers, the men at Mr Grant’s house, and Lloyd and Smithers’ potential involvement.
“How can something be going on like that here?” She asked with a frown. “This is Smothey. Nothing ever happens here.”
“Smithers happens here. Sayers has happened here. Believe me, Jess, when I tell you that somewhere like Smothey is perfect for a criminal like Sayers. It is away from prying eyes in London. To take lodgings somewhere like this is a perfectly ordinary thing for anybody to do. Nobody would think twice about them – and indeed they haven’t. As far as Sayers is concerned, everything has gone to plan. I don’t think he knows we are on to him yet, but I cannot be sure. One thing is certain, Lloyd is involved somehow, only I don’t know whether he is just guarding, or helping them in some way.”
“Please be careful, Marcus,” she pleaded.
He hauled her into his arms. “I know what I am doing. I will be fine, but it will help if I take a look at their rooms while they are out.”
“Of course,” she whispered. “If they are criminals I want them out of this house as quickly as possible.”
Marcus wholeheartedly agreed. “As soon as we have gathered enough evidence, we will round them all up and put them behind bars where they belong.”
She looked up at him and placed a loving kiss on his lips. “Including Lloyd.”
“Yes. I can use my connections to make sure the man doesn’t stay as magistrate around here. There is enough corruption in the world without officials being the worst kind of criminal.”
“I know. Lloyd has always been a law unto himself,” Jess murmured thoughtfully.
“Thank you for breakfast,” he said around a kiss.
“You are welcome.”
She gave him such a winning smile that he blinked and looked down at her in complete surprise. His heart melted at the slight hint of shyness that came with it. He had never seen her face light up like that. He wanted to see more of it and promised himself he would do whatever he needed to do to make it happen. For now, he had to get back to the work that awaited him.
“What do you plan to do today?” he asked.
“I am going to Retterton for some provisions. We are nearly out.”
Marcus nodded. “Just stay safe, Jess,” he warned. “Don’t stray off the beaten path, and come straight home.”
Thrilled that he cared about her enough to worry about her so much, she smiled at him.
“While you are gone, I will search the rooms.”
“I will see you later,” she said hopefully.
He winked at her and raced up the stairs.
With nothing else to do, Jess returned to the kitchen. She was just in time to catch Ben on his way out of the door.
“Where are you going?” She demanded, placing her hands on her hips.
“Out,” Ben replied.
“Where to?”
“What are you, my mother or something?” Ben’s voice was only half teasing.
There was a glint of irritation in his eyes that warned her he didn’t like her questions, but she didn’t care.
“I am off to Retterton for some provisions. I just thought that if you were heading that way you might give me a hand,” Jess explained reasonably. “It might be nice to have a chat along the way.”
“I am not going to Retterton,” Ben replied, although didn’t tell her where he was going. “I will be back in time to do my chores. See you later.”
He slammed out of the kitchen before Jess could protest.
“He is up to something,” Jess murmured as she watched her brother disappear into the woods. She eyed the fresh, neatly wrapped package now resting on the hearth and felt her heart sink.
“He will be alright, you know,” Marcus reassured her.
She spun around with a startled gasp. She hadn’t realised he was there.
“I know,” she whispered. “I just wish my brother wouldn’t keep so many secrets.”
She tried hard not to look at him because he was so distracting she found it hard to concentrate. He made her feel things she didn’t want even to acknowledge. She felt hot, then cold, and couldn’t do anything about the wild flurry of excitement that shivered through her whenever he drew close to her.
He, on the other hand, seemed incredibly unperturbed by any emotion whatsoever. Now that he had his work to focus on there was a little more distance between them, and it was a little disconcerting.
It didn’t help her confusion when she tried to return to the dishes only for Marcus to capture her lips in a searing kiss. Passion immediately roared to life; with a ferocity that had them both clinging to each other. Marcus widened his stance so he could draw her as close as their clothing would allow. Jess stood on tiptoe to reach his towering height.
Breaths duelled, lips mated, searching hands clung to bare skin. Jess’s mind turned to mush. She couldn’t think; couldn’t breathe beyond this moment. The distance she had previously felt vanished in an instant. At that moment, there was nothing between them; physically, mentally, or emotionally. Nothing mattered to Jess but him; this kiss; the force of the attraction that was impossible to fight. Common sense didn’t exist. Their location didn’t register on either of them.
“Ahem.”
Jess jerked back, her eyes wide with shock.
Marcus groaned and buried his face in her neck. He couldn’t allow her to step back; not with the state his body. When he did look up, he looked straight into the humour-filled eyes of Mr Ball.
“I didn’t mean to interrupt, but the ale jug in the dining room is empty,” he announced blandly.
Jess stared at him, her lips burning as fiercely as her cheeks were. She felt branded by the man she was flush against, but could do nothing but stare blankly at the lodger.
“I am sorry,” Marcus replied when Jess didn’t reply. “We will make sure it gets refilled.”
Mr Ball gave them both a searching look. “I didn’t realise it was like that with you two.”
“I am her fiancé,” Marcus explained. “But, it is a secret. It is important to her reputation that the villagers see me as nothing more than a lodger. I am just here to h
elp her with some of the maintenance for a while; that’s all. The house needs repairing a bit.”
“Where do you hail from?” Mr Ball asked, ignoring the fact that he could have asked these questions while seated around the breakfast table an hour ago but hadn’t.
Marcus was willing to ignore this slight error, though. It assured him that he was right to consider the man had something to hide. He had gone from staid and almost mute to amiable and chatty in less than an hour. Not only that, but his new talkative side had revealed a slight East End accent that was condemning.
Keeping Jess safely in his arms, he looked back at the man.
“Gloucestershire. A small village called Kettleby,” he lied.
“Never heard of it,” Ball replied.
Jess had never felt so embarrassed in her entire life. She was in an intimate embrace in front of one of her lodgers, but Marcus was behaving as thought it was an everyday occurrence for her to be wrapped around him as she was.
“I am sorry,” she whispered, pushing her bedraggled hair out of her face.
Dutifully playing his part, Marcus looked down at her lovingly.
“He understands.” He turned a somewhat pleading look on Mr Ball. “I would ask you not to tell anyone. We would get shunned from the village if our association became known.”
Mr Ball frowned. “How did you two meet? I thought you didn’t go anywhere, and you hail from Gloucestershire?”
Marcus mentally cursed. “I came by here late last year. I was only here for a while but fell hard. I desperately wanted to see more of her but had to return home. I have been back a couple of times since. We have been corresponding, but the distance is too great. We knew, right from the very first moment, that it was meant to be. However, to be able to see her as I want to I have to come here under the guise as one of her guests. You know, so the locals don’t get suspicious and think she is running a house of ill-repute. We hope to be married by the end of the year.”
It felt strange to him to discuss marriage, but there it was. He couldn’t take it back, especially given there was an air of satisfaction in his declaration. Marriage was an institution that other people entered into; not someone like him. Still, the words rolled off his tongue, and for once it didn’t make him want to squirm.
“I can keep a secret,” Mr Ball declared. “No wonder you were so protective when Lloyd began to pester.”
“Nobody pesters my fiancé,” Marcus declared possessively, pressing a kiss onto Jessica’s startled lips.
He grinned at the stunned look in her eyes and wondered if he should tease her. In the end, Mr Ball decided he had seen enough and took his leave.
Marcus pressed a finger to Jessica’s lips to prevent the questions he could see hovering in her eyes. The silence remained until they heard the quiet click of the front door behind Ball.
“I thought he had already gone,” she murmured with a shiver.
“Me too,” Marcus replied. He wondered if the man had left but then had doubled back to try to catch them unawares. He had caught them, but not doing anything suspicious that was likely to affect the lodgers’ activities.
“Do you mind telling me what is going on?” She asked quietly. “I am starting to think that I am missing something here.”
“Wait a minute,” Marcus murmured. Minutes later, once he had checked to make sure that Mr Ball had left the house, he returned to Jess.
She couldn’t even begin to put a name to the myriad emotions swirling deep inside her. First and foremost was a quiet sense of deflation she had never felt before. The performance they had just put on for Mr Ball’s benefit had stolen the joy she had felt at being held in Marcus’ arms. Not least because it made her want things she wasn’t sure she could have.
To think of being Marcus’ wife was nothing short of a fairy-tale.
Was it possible? Did he mean it? Could she dare to hope?
“You do know that news is likely to be spread around the village, don’t you?” she said pointedly.
“I don’t think he will mention it to anybody other than his colleagues,” Marcus soothed.
“Why did you tell him we are engaged?”
“To avoid ruining your name,” Marcus replied firmly. “He has just caught us in a passionate clinch. Not one of the men in this house is married, as far as we know, and you are an unchaperoned female. When I do leave, if the men think you and I are betrothed they are less likely to pester you. Not only that, but they can reinforce to Lloyd that you are no longer on the market. For the time being at least, it should provide you with the ability to be at home without being pestered by anybody.”
Before she could protest further, Marcus yawned widely and winked at her before he made his way to the door.
“I will see you later.”
Jess stood perfectly still and studied the closed door for a moment while she thought about that. Alright, so he had protected her from the rather amorous advances of the lecherously persistent magistrate. But none of the guests in the house had ever given her any indication to worry; or shown her the slightest bit of interest as a landlady, or as a person. Well, nobody but Marcus.
“It is all a mystery,” she whispered.
Just thinking about the strange theft of the spare key, the unusual the guests, the surprising relationship with Marcus, and the rather persistent attentions of the magistrate, was all starting to wear on her.
Life was quiet before Marcus turned up, but then it had been boring as well.
She swiftly shut that thought out and turned her attention to what she needed to do today. It was then that she remembered she had yet to go into town for some provisions.
“Best get to it then,” she murmured aloud and went to find her shawl.
Marcus watched her leave from his position in one of the upstairs rooms. He was in two minds whether to go with her to make sure she got there safely. But, the need to search the rooms while he had the place to himself was as essential because the identity of the gang.
“Finally.”
Marcus whirled around to find Ben grinning at him from the doorway.
“I thought you were off to Retterton,” Marcus drawled.
He mentally cursed himself for lowering his guard. He had been so focused on Jess that he hadn’t heard Ben creep up on him again. It was incredibly foolish given who was currently sharing the house. But, at least the lad had got a skill Marcus could utilise.
“I told Jess that I was going out but didn’t tell her where. I have been waiting in the trees for her to go shopping, and came back here to see what you are up to.” Ben’s face turned serious for a moment while he waited for Marcus to tell him what he was doing.
“I could do with your help,” Marcus confided.
“Are we going to search Mr Grant’s house?” Ben’s eyes were full of hope.
Marcus shook his head. “We are going to search this one. We need to go through the contents of each of the bedchambers.”
Ben nodded eagerly. “Count me in.”
They made their way to the first bedchamber. An hour later, they came out empty handed.
“There is nothing in there apart from a few changes of clothing. How could anybody live like that? I mean, there are no books or notes, or anything to give any idea what kind of things the man likes to do,” Ben grumbled. “What does Mr Abernathy do when he is in there?”
Marcus studied him. “That’s the problem exactly. What is he doing when he is in there supposedly for several hours at a time?”
“Not a lot given the look of that room,” Ben grumbled.
“He is supposed to be an accountant or some sort of desk clerk, yes?”
“I think so,” Ben replied with a frown. “He tells everybody he works in Retterton.”
Marcus nodded. “Have you ever followed him to see if he is telling the truth?”
Ben shook his head. “We usually take the guests on their word. We don’t usually go around stalking them to see if they are liars.”
“Fai
r point,” Marcus conceded. “However, I think that in Mr Abernathy’s case, we do need to follow him. I want to speak to the people who are supposed to employ him.”
“He does come back sometimes with ink stains all over his fingers if that helps?”
“It depends on what he has done to get the ink stains,” Marcus replied dryly.
“Doesn’t it prove that he is spending his days writing?” Ben asked with a frown.
“Yes, but what? What is he writing?”
Ben shrugged.
“So, we need to go to his supposed employers to check for ourselves that he works there,” Marcus reasoned.
“I can do that.”
Marcus shook his head. “On this occasion, I will do it. I don’t want the employers to be alerted to who I am, and tell Mr Abernathy that we have been asking questions.”
“I am coming with you,” Ben declared flatly. “You can’t involve me in this and then just expect me to stand back while you do everything. Let me help. I can, you know.”
“I am not saying you can’t,” Marcus sighed, and wondered what he had let himself in for.
While the lad’s enthusiasm was brilliant, it also posed considerable problems. That eagerness could very well bring the entire deck of cards crashing down around their ears. Still, having not had any word from Barnaby yet, he and Joe needed all the help they could get.
“Fine, you can come with me. Meantime, I think our Mr Abernathy has nothing in this room to do except sleep and stare at the wall. There are no hidden compartments, no secret walls, and nothing in the way of personal effects.”
“Correct,” Ben declared, as though Marcus had just asked for confirmation.
He hadn’t. He had just been thinking aloud, but he didn’t correct the lad.
“Mr Ball’s room is next door.”
Marcus nodded and followed him into the room. “Mr Ball is the quiet, shy one, whose gaze is always flickering around the table.”
