by Wendy Vella
“She will not let you.” The words were whispered, but Mathew heard them.
“Why won’t she let me?” He felt no guilt about getting the answers from Charlie now. Whatever this threat was, it had gone on long enough, and as Patience would not give him what he wanted, he would get his answers from another source. His intentions were honorable; he wanted only to help, he reminded himself, pushing aside the guilt.
“Because of my cousin.”
Mathew filed that piece of knowledge away for later. Now that he had a name, he would use it to extract the rest of the information from Patience.
“Charlie, we will pass my favorite toffee shop on the way to your town house. The carriage will stop briefly and I shall run in and collect my order, but I would be grateful if you did not tell your sister, as I have no wish for her to wait any longer than necessary to hear you are safe.”
The boy’s eyes didn’t exactly light with excitement at the mention of toffee, but there was a glimmer as he nodded. Placing a hand on the boy’s shoulder, Mathew then directed him through the crowd of people, and soon they were on their way, with Charlie settled on the seat of Mathew’s carriage across from him.
At the shop, Charlie waited inside while Mathew collected his order from Mr. Trenchard. When they were once again inside the carriage, Mathew opened one of the bags.
“Patience does not like me to eat a lot of sugar,” Charlie said, taking the piece of toffee Mathew held out to him.
“I limit myself to one piece a day.” Mathew closed his eyes as he savored the treat. “Everyone has a vice, Charlie, and this is mine.”
“It’s dashed good.”
“You have to promise me you will not run again, Charlie,” Mathew said after he’d swallowed his second piece. Today was a day for breaking rules.
“I promise.” The boy looked young as he ate, and yet, like Mathew’s own nephew had once, he carried burdens.
“I suggest you clean your hands.” Mathew held out his handkerchief. “Your sister will not take kindly to knowing we stopped to purchase toffee when she is beside herself with worry.”
“We took no more than five minutes, Mathew.”
“Woman can be unreasonable for no apparent reason, Charlie. Try to remember that. But your sister has a very good reason to worry.”
“I already know that,” the boy said, handing the handkerchief back. “Lucy becomes hysterical if I enter her room and move things, and Patience when I leave my shoes and jacket lying about the furniture.”
Mathew was still smiling when the carriage pulled to a stop minutes later. After opening the door for Charlie to step down, he followed. The boy didn’t drag his feet, he’d give him that; instead, he strode to the door, opened it and stepped inside.
“Where is Mr. Toots?” Charlie looked around him as he walked. “No one seems to be here, Mathew.”
“They are out looking for you, Charlie,” Mathew said gently.
The boy said nothing further, but he started running, throwing open doors until he stopped on the threshold of a room.
“I’m sorry.”
Mathew looked over the boy’s head to where Patience was standing at the window. Her face was turned toward them, her eyes bright with unshed tears as she took in the sight of her brother.
“I didn’t mean to frighten you, Patience. What I did was wrong, and I should not have shouted at you this morning.”
She started moving toward them. “I want to slap you and hug you all at once.”
The siblings met in the middle of the room. She wrapped her arms around her brother, and held him close.
“You scared me, Charlie. I thought he would harm you.”
“I took my pistol.”
Mathew shook his head. What was it with this family and carrying weapons?
“Charlie, go and tell whoever you can find that you’re back, and let them alert the rest of the household that you are safe,” Mathew said, stepping into the room.
The boy pulled out of his sister’s arms. “Of course, I will do so at once,” he said as he ran back through the door.
“Thank you.” Patience found her handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes. “Was he at the exhibition?”
Mathew nodded. “Why is he in danger from his cousin?”
The surprise on her face was fleeting, but he saw it.
“I have no idea.”
“Not this time,” Mathew said, walking to where she was standing. “You won’t fob me off again. Charlie told me that he is kept a virtual prisoner in his own home due to his cousin, Patience. Now tell me why.”
“It is best for you not to know,” she said. “The fewer people involved, the better it will be for everyone.”
“I can take care of myself and my family, if that is your concern. Now tell me what threat this cousin is to you.” Mathew thought about what he knew of her family and came up with only one male cousin. “Is it Winston?”
“This is my problem,” she said, moving away from him to take a seat. He followed, drawing another chair close to hers, so close that their knees now touched.
“It seems to me that the one person who would have the most to gain from your brother’s death would be Brantley. Is he the one who has been threatening your family?”
“I shall just go and make sure Charlie—”
“No, Patience, you will not.” Mathew took her arm and lowered her back into the seat.
“Yes,” she said after a brief silence.
“Yes, what?”
“Yes, Brantley intends to harm Charles so he can inherit his title, but until I saw him at Vauxhall Gardens, he had never openly admitted his intent.”
Mathew remembered how shaken she had seemed that night when he’d found her. “Was he the one who put those marks on your neck?”
Her nod made him want to track the bastard down and hurt him.
“And was it him you saw outside the cowkeeper’s shop?”
“No, I heard the gunshot and guessed it was someone he had hired coming after Charlie again.”
“I’ll kill him for hurting you,” Mathew said, touching her neck softly.
“I hate him.” She looked ferocious. “I wanted to shoot him at Vauxhall, and would have if I was alone.”
“I have no doubt that you would have succeeded, my sweet, but then you would have been charged with murder.”
“It would have been worth it to rid Charlie of him.”
“So those large men who go about with you and Charlie are more bodyguards than footmen?”
She told him about the attempts on Charlie’s life, and his admiration for her courage grew. Patience had protected her family in whatever way she could, but now she was no longer alone.
“Winston has certainly fooled many people as to his true personality.”
“Yes, and that is why it was difficult to tell anyone,” Patience said. “Who would believe my word against his? I even went to a magistrate, but he laughed at my claims.”
“What did Brantley say to you the other night?” Mathew took her hand and warmed her cold fingers. Touching her was becoming an addiction.
“That he was coming for Charlie and that I would not be able to stop him.” She lowered her eyes, which told him she had not told him everything.
“And?”
“I would be made to watch him die before he then killed me.”
“He will not succeed,” Mathew said calmly.
“My fear is that no matter what I have put in place, I cannot stop him,” she whispered.
“We will stop him.”
“I-I don’t want you entangled in this, Mathew.”
She touched his chest, and he wanted to pull her onto his lap and hold her. This woman had slipped inside him somehow, and he knew that she would not be dislodged.
“You are not safe here, I will move you into my house. It is larger and more secure, plus I have a great deal more staff.”
“No!” She pulled away from him and got to her feet. “That is an absurd notion, Math
ew.”
He watched her pace around the room, hands moving, feet striding. Her body was a beautiful thing when in motion.
“It is the perfect solution, and one that if you paused to think rationally about, you would understand is the wisest for your family, Patience.”
“Don’t tell me how to care about my family! I’ve done nothing but consider them since my parents died!” She paced back to his chair to glare down at him. “I have kept them safe until now, and I will continue to do so without your help.”
“Why is it so hard for you to accept help from me? Do you still distrust me? Are you still harboring that grudge that has plagued you for years? Am I to be painted the villain alongside your cousin?” Frustration drove him to his feet, and anger made him reach for her. “Damn you, woman, will pride stop you from accepting my help to the detriment of your family?”
“Don’t you dare infer that I would ever put my pride before my family’s safety!” She was yelling right along with him now.
“Then accept my help, damn you!”
“Why are you yelling at Mathew, Patience?” Charlie asked as he came back into the room.
“Did you manage to alert someone?” she said after inhaling a large breath, instead of answering her brother’s question.
“Yes. Lenny had returned to see if there was word, and after blistering my ears about my reckless behavior, he has now gone to collect the others who are out there searching.”
“You wait until Mr. Toots gets hold of you, Brother.” Patience moved away from Mathew as she spoke. “He will be furious with you.”
Mathew’s insides were boiling. He couldn’t understand why she did not want his help. Surely she could see that this was the best option to keep them safe.
“He will make me clean the silver again, won’t he?”
“If you are lucky,” Patience said, wrapping an arm around her brother’s shoulders.
“Why were you yelling at each other when I came in?” Charlie then said with the tenacity of a child who wanted answers, and Mathew was angry enough to give them to him.
“Patience told me about your cousin, Charlie, and I told her I thought it best for you all to come and live with me, as I have more staff, a bigger, more secure house, and can ensure your safety now that I know where the threat to you all lies.” Mathew watched Patience as he said the words, her blue eyes narrowing as anger darkened them.
“It is underhanded of you to involve Charlie in this!”
“Yes,” Mathew said. “It is.”
“I think we should take Mathew up on his offer, Patience.” Charlie looked from Mathew to Patience.
“No!” She folded her arms, her lips forming a line. Mathew knew that particular expression, as he’d seen it enough times in the last few days.
“Why are you yelling, Sister?” Lucy walked into the room with her bonnet trailing in one hand and a sweet smile on her face.
Charlie replied, “Mathew thinks we should move into his house so he can look after us, and my cousin won’t get me.”
Good boy, Mathew thought. To get Patience to yield would take their combined efforts, and he hoped Lucy would be in agreement.
“What a wonderfully generous offer! We wholeheartedly accept!” Lucy cried, hurrying to kiss Mathew on one cheek. “And can I say that I’m proud of you for telling Mathew about our cousin and the threat he poses, Patience.”
“She didn’t,” Charlie said, ignoring his elder sister, who was now gnashing her teeth. “I ran away to the velocipede exhibition today, and Mathew found me. I told him about Brantley, and Patience added the rest.”
“No!” Lucy looked horrified. “You didn’t, Charlie. What if Brantley abducted you?”
“I know it was wrong, and I’m sorry, but the point is that I told Mathew about our cousin,” the boy said, eager to get his sister’s thoughts off what he had done and onto their cousin.
“I think we should accept Mathew’s offer, Patience.”
“How can you say that, Lucy?” Patience demanded. “What will people say if we simply up and move to his house, a bachelor household?”
“My mother lives there,” Mathew said, which earned him another glare.
“There, you see?” Lucy said. “No one will comment with Lady Allender there also, and it is the safest place for us until your Mr. Whitty can find the information we need to control our cousin.”
“Mr. Whitty?” Mathew said, watching as Patience closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose.
“He is a private investigator. Patience thought that if he investigated our cousin, he might come up with something we can use against him,” Lucy said.
“And has he?”
“I only saw him a few days ago,” Patience snapped. “I hardly think it likely he will have unearthed something yet.”
She was defensive and angry, probably still feeling the effects of her brother’s disappearance, Mathew took the decision away from her as he rose to his feet.
“I shall have carriages sent in two hours. Have your staff pack what you need, and the rest will follow tomorrow. I will send three footmen upon my return to my home, who will watch over you until the carriages arrive.”
“This is ridiculous!” Patience looked at her siblings, who both looked determined, then at him. “I have staff here. I cannot simply leave them, nor will I let our cousin drive us from our own house.”
“Can we bring Lenny and Paul?” Charlie asked Mathew.
“Of course,” Mathew said as he walked to the door. He wanted to leave before Patience had a chance to tender any more arguments or throw something hard at his head. He would let her siblings deal with her.
“You can’t just—”
Mathew closed the door on her protests and made for the front door. He was outside in his carriage before she could catch him. Smiling as he saw the front door open, he watched her appear and almost wished he could see the fire in her eyes. Instead, he looked forward and instructed his driver to take him home. Once there, he would send men to watch over the household until the Allenders were safely inside his house. There would be no more threats to the Allender family; he would ensure that, just as he would ensure that Brantley Winston was brought to justice.
CHAPTER NINE
Patience stormed back inside to find her siblings standing side by side, facing her as she walked in through the parlor door.
“We are not going!”
“It is for the best,” Lucy said calmly.
“How can moving into the Belmont household help us? Surely it can only make matters worse, as suddenly the threat to us is also to them.” Patience tried to speak calmly, yet she wanted to kick something, namely a tall marquis. How dared he turn her siblings against her? Suddenly everything appeared beyond her control, and now Lucy and Charlie were trusting Mathew, but she was not yet sure she could do that.
Liar.
Ignoring the voice, she glared at her siblings. “We cannot simply move into his household, for pity’s sake. He has not even consulted his mother, and she lives there also.”
“She will not mind,” Lucy said.
“How do you know that?”
“Because she knows it is what our mother would have wanted.”
Lucy’s words were like a blow to her stomach, propelling the air out of her. “How can you know that?”
“I just do.”
She looked at her siblings, standing hip to hip, united in their belief that they should move into Mathew’s household, and felt a surge of betrayal. They did not believe she could keep them safe any longer, and, after a few words and no more than a week in his company, suddenly Mathew could provide them with a safe haven, while she could not.
“We are not moving into his household.”
She stormed out and went up to her bedroom, where she sat on her bed, thinking furiously. Was it her growing feelings for him that were stopping her? Did she trust him? Could she keep her heart whole if she saw him continually, and he kissed her again? Was it really
best for them to move to his household, and were her personal feelings towards him making her unreasonable?
“Am I balking because of selfish reasons?” Patience whispered.
Falling backward onto the bed, she lay staring at the ceiling. Exhaustion was making her irrational. Perhaps after a few minutes of rest she could make sense of everything.
Patience woke to a knock on the door, and had no idea how long she had slept. Climbing to her feet, she went to open it, certain one of her siblings would be standing there.
“A note has arrived for you, Miss Allender.”
“Thank you, Mr. Toots.” She took it, quickly broke the seal, and read the few lines.
Come at once, I have news of an alarming nature concerning your cousin. It was signed Mr. Whitty, Private Investigator.
Shaking the last vestiges of sleep from her head, Patience quickly pulled on her bonnet and pelisse, then made sure her pistol was inside her reticule before she left.
“Where are you going, Patience?” Her sister was standing at the bottom of the stairs, looking up at her as she descended.
“I shall return shortly, Lucy.”
“Mathew’s carriages will be here soon. Charlie and I are nearly packed.”
“Send him a note, please, saying we are not moving.”
Lucy shook her head furiously. “I will not, not when Charlie and I wish to go. If you want to stay, then do so, but we will be leaving.”
“Lucy, I—” Patience watched as her sister walked away, but she did not have time to talk with her further. She must see what Mr. Whitty had uncovered, because perhaps that would change everything. Dear Lord, she hoped so. “Just wait until I return, please!” she called, but Lucy did not reply.
Walking out onto the street, Patience hailed a hackney. She did not have time to collect the carriage, nor did she want anyone accompanying her. She would be safe to travel there and back alone at such a time. The streets were busy, and it was not her that their cousin wanted.
Mr. Whitty’s street was busy with people and carriages. Paying her driver, she told him that if he passed by again shortly, he would secure her fare home.
“Will do.” The driver tipped his hat, then drove away.
