Wonderland By Night (Heroic Rogues Series)

by Higgins, Marie

  The sultry look in her eyes had him spellbound. Her eyes had always made him this way. He liked the way she looked upon him as if he were the most gallant man in the world.

  At that moment, the front door swung open and his uncle and aunt stood on the other side. The passionate mood quickly disappeared.

  “You are back!” Henry cheered as he stepped outside and gave Emiline a hug. “Oh child, we thought something horrid had happened to you.”

  Gabe narrowed his gaze on his uncle. Why was he acting this way toward Miss Emmie? From over his uncle’s shoulder, Emiline looked at him with confusion in her eyes. Aunt Martha stood in back of Henry clasping her hands against her middle, her eyes moist and appearing as if she was ready to cry.

  Very strange behavior from both of them.

  “Uncle? Is something amiss?” Gabe asked.

  Henry quickly stepped back. “Uh, well...when we returned home earlier, our servants said five men came looking for something we had that they wanted.” He shook his head. “It was not until Levi heard one of the men say Lady Sarah’s name when he realized what they wanted, and when we returned home and saw you were gone…” He paused, looking at Emiline as he laid a hand over his heart. “I thought those men might have taken you.”

  “Uncle, did the stable boy not tell you she was with me?” Gabe wondered. “He was the only one to see us together.”

  Henry rolled his eyes. “Levi did not know who was with you, Gabriel.”

  Emiline hung her head, wringing her hands against her middle. “Forgive me, Mr. Hampton. I didn’t mean to upset you. We had gone riding and lost track of time, and –”

  “Emiline?” Gabe interrupted her, and she looked up at him. “I shall explain things to my uncle. You hurry upstairs and let Lady Sarah know that you are all right. She’s probably worried sick.”

  Henry nodded. “Oh, yes. She’s very worried.”

  “Excuse me then. Good night, gentlemen.” She curtsied then entered the house.

  Gabe couldn’t take his eyes of her as she gracefully floated into the main hall and up the stairs. He took a deep breath, calming himself from the passionate moment they had shared not too long ago. He expected tonight would be miserable until he could see her again. Yet, his conscience dictated he couldn’t act this way around her. His life was too complicated as it was, and bringing a woman into his world would only bring heartache.

  Henry shook his head and chuckled. “The girl certainly looks different wearing that fancy gown. It’s almost as if she was supposed to wear that instead of the servant’s attire.”

  Gabe nodded, relieved they shared the same opinion. “I agree, Uncle.”

  Henry turned to him. “Now, Gabe, would you kindly inform me what is going on? Where were you the past two days, and why did you take...that er…that particular woman with you?”

  “Come inside, Uncle. Let’s adjourn to your study where we can discuss this matter in private.” Walking into the house, Gabe headed straight to the study, then to the liquor tray and poured himself some brandy.

  Henry and Martha followed and shut the door behind them. His uncle folded his arms across his chest and glared. “We are here, so please explain what’s going on between the two of you?”

  Luckily Henry hadn’t asked Gabe to explain his feelings for the young woman, because he still had mixed emotions about her. Confusion had been his constant companion for two days, along with pure enjoyment. All he knew was that Emiline entranced him, and the longer they were together, the more his attraction grew.

  “Yesterday morning I was about to take a refreshing ride around the countryside when I happened across Emiline doing the same. I suggested we ride together, only because it would keep us both entertained.” He paused, sipping his drink. “She had been extremely disappointed because dear Rebecca made it clear that she didn’t want Miss Emmie traveling to Manchester with Lady Sarah. Seeing how Emiline was a guest at your house just as Lady Sarah, I can imagine her disappointment.” He directed that harsh comment to his aunt.

  Martha lowered her head and twisted her hands. “But Gabe, I didn’t know at first...but then when we did, your uncle told Rebecca to invite her. The night before we were to leave, Miss Emmie came down with a stomach ailment, so we left—”

  Henry waved his hand through the air as he looked at his wife. “It does not matter now. It is over and done with.” He aimed his focus on Gabe again. “You should not have been alone with her. You could have ruined her reputation.”

  The hilarity of the comment made Gabe laughed out loud. “Reputation as what? A lady’s companion? A servant of Lady Sarah’s?”

  Henry scowled. “Well, just see that it does not happen again, and for heaven’s sake, let us know if you take her away in the future.”

  Gabe finished his drink and set it down on the liquor tray. Why had his uncle suddenly wanted to step into the role of Gabe’s guardian? Gabe didn’t need to tell Henry everything he had to do—especially with Emmie. “I promise I will inform you when I deem it necessary, Uncle. Rest assured, you shall be the first to know.” He turned to walk away, but his uncle grabbed his arm and stopped him.

  “Gabe? You didn’t...um, compromise her in any way, did you?”

  Gabe didn’t know whether to laugh or get upset. His uncle acted as if Gabe had been with a real lady for two days—and one very magical night. He chose to chuckle instead of being angered. “Are you asking if I seduced her? Took her to bed? Ravished her, perhaps?” He laughed harder. “No, Uncle. I was the perfect gentleman.” Sort of.

  Henry shifted his feet as his wife blushed. “Fine. Now that we got that out of the way,” he continued as he swiped his fingers through his graying hair, “we need to find out who those men were that came while we were gone and why they want Lady Sarah.”

  Martha moved next to her husband touched his arm as her eyes locked with Gabe’s stare. “We think they may return, and next time we may not be as fortunate.”

  Chapter Ten

  Emmie rushed upstairs to Anna’s room. She flung open the door and Anna jumped from her sitting position near the window. Her eyes wide as she stared.

  “Anna, I have found her!” Emmie ran to her maid and clasped her hands. “My mother is alive and I know where she is!”

  Anna squealed and hugged her. “Oh, my lady! I was so worried...nobody knew where you were...I thought the mob your father and uncle told us about had come and taken you.” Tears sprang to her eyes. “I was at my wit’s end not knowing what had happened.”

  Emmie narrowed her gaze on her friend. “Did you not hear me? I found my mother.” She shook her head. “Actually, I met my grandmother who told me my mother is still alive.”

  Anna tilted her head as her gaze narrowed. “What? I do not understand.”

  “My mother is alive,” Emmie repeated slower.

  “Oh, my apologies, my lady. I’m just very relieved you are all right.” She smiled. “So tell me the exciting news.”

  Emmie released a laugh and hugged Anna again. “Forgive me for worrying you so. I have been eager to tell you what I discovered last night and today.” She took a deep breath and began her tale. “Mr. Lawrence took me all over the countryside and we stayed the night at this old woman’s house. The old woman happened to be my grandmother.”

  Her eyes widened. “You were with Mr. Lawrence…for that long unescorted, and into the night?”

  Emmie rolled her eyes. “Anna, focus, please. My mother…”

  The other woman nodded. “My apologies again. This is indeed wonderful news!”

  Emmie pulled the maid to the bed where they both sat on the edge. “You are not going to believe this, but Mother thought Father and I had died. She was given the story that our ship was attacked by pirates and killed everyone on board. She doesn’t even know we are alive.”

  Anna smacked her fingers over her mouth. “How dreadful. Perhaps you should ask Mr. Hampton about Captain Hawk—since they are related.”

  “Actually, I talked to Gab
e. He said he doesn’t know of a relative who could be Captain Hawk. So perhaps that rumor was false.”

  “Uh, Emmie… You are on first name basis with Mr. Lawrence?”

  Heat crept up Emmie’s face. “Yes, but that’s neither here nor there. The important thing is he is not related to Captain Hawk.”

  “Then I’m sure the rumor I heard was indeed, false. So are you going to go find your mother now?”

  “Grandmother said Mother is living near the border of Salem, Massachusetts. She is a live-in companion for a widow woman, Mrs. Estelle Winterbourne. I’m certain it will be easy to locate this lady, don’t you?”

  Anna shook her head. “Oh Emmie, if Salem is anything like Manchester, I fear locating your mother will be more difficult than you think.”

  “Why is that?”

  “Manchester is very large and filled from one end to the other with people. If Salem is as large, it will not be easy finding her. If you can locate your mother within a week, consider yourself most fortunate.”

  Emmie sighed heavily. “What am I going to do then? I will have to go to Salem to find her, yet at the same time, pretend to be your companion.” She fell back on the bed, sighing deeply. “Oh what a mess my father got us into by giving us different roles to play.”

  “Emmie?” Anna sat on the bed next to her. “I think I know what we can do. I shall ask Mr. and Mrs. Hampton if we can spend a week in Salem, since we want to see more of this lovely country.” She sighed. “I’m certain they will take us because when Mr. Hampton discovered you were not with me, he appeared very disturbed—even upset at Rebecca.”

  Emmie scrunched her forehead. “I wonder why?”

  “I don’t know, my lady.”

  “Well, I think that is a good plan,” Emmie exclaimed excitedly as she sat up, but then remembered about Gabe, and her hopes sank again. “On second thought, perhaps that will not work.”

  “But why?”

  “Gabe promised he would help me find my mother.”

  Anna arched a curious eyebrow. “Mr. Lawrence again, huh? Pray tell, my lady, how close did the two of you get over the past couple of days?”

  Emmie bit back a grin. She couldn’t possibly answer that question. “Anna, you are making too much out of this. The point is, he offered to help.”

  “Does he still think you are my companion?”

  “Yes, and we need to keep him thinking that way.”

  “Well…then he can come with us. You talk to him and have him convince his uncle he needs to go with us.”

  “I suppose that might work.” Emmie sighed again deeply. “I just pray we can find my mother soon. I need to let her know I’m alive.”

  “You do realize that Mr. Lawrence cannot be there or else he will discover who you really are.”

  Emmie nodded. “I do, which makes everything more complicated.” She groaned and rubbed her head. “Father really should not have switched our roles.” She sighed.

  Anna patted her shoulder. “There, there, my lady. Your father didn’t know, I’m sure of it.”

  “No, he didn’t know what would transpire when we arrived here, but I fear that when the truth finally comes out, people will get hurt whether we meant to do it or not.” Gabe’s face came to her mind…his handsome, friendly, and caring face. Out of everyone, she knew he’d be hurt the most. Perhaps the key was not to ever let him know her secret. After all, when she and Anna returned to London, she would never see Gabriel Lawrence again.

  * * * *

  Gabe hurried toward the stable the next morning, his long legs taking wide strides on his way. Questions swam through his head, and he couldn’t focus. It didn’t help when all he could think about was his beautiful Emmie.

  Quickly, he brought his thoughts to a halt. His Emmie? That was utterly ridiculous! He could not—or ever—think of her that way. For now, she was simply a diversion for him while he was in hiding. He really needed to get back to his original plan when he discovered Oliver Townshend’s niece was here. Spending time with Emmie had been so pleasing, he had forgotten that he still didn’t know very much about the political man.

  Inwardly, he cringed. What would the Sons of Liberty think of him now? They’d certainly think he was slacking in his duties and that he had a weak mind—neither of which was something Gabe wanted to be known for.

  Levi, the stable boy, sauntered out of the stable, brushing straw off his trousers. The boy—perhaps not a boy any longer since a small patch of facial hair grew on his chin—had been working for Uncle Henry since Gabe could remember. If memory served, Levi’s family were also servants here.

  “Boy, hold up there,” Gabe called out, stopping Levi from going any further.

  Levi scratched his ear. “Yessir?”

  “I need to talk to you about those men who came looking for Lady Sarah yesterday. Do you remember how many were in the group?”

  Levi nodded so quickly, his hat nearly slipped off his head. “Five, Sir.”

  “What were they looking for exactly?”

  “Waal,” the dark-skinned boy said, tapping his finger on his chin, as his attention lifted to the tree above Gabe’s head, “when I first saw’d them, they were still on their horses. They rode to me, instead of going to the house first. The one who seemed to be in charge had evil eyes and hair as orange as the sun.”

  Unease washed over Gabe. Evil eyes… There was one man who fit that description. Commodore Billingsford—the very man who nearly captured The Avenger several weeks ago. Gabe’s stomach churned with worry. “What age was this man?”

  Levi met his stare. “I suppose he was somewhere in his fortieth year, Sir.”

  Gabe nodded. So far, the description of Commodore Billingford fit perfectly. “Continue.”

  “Waal, the man asked the whereabouts of Mr. Hampton. He said my master had something these men needed.”

  “I kept telling them that Mr. Hampton wasn’t here, but they acted like they weren’t listening to me because they all started talking to each other at once.”

  “Do you know what they were saying?”

  Levi shook his head. “They were arguing about something, but I couldn’t tell what it was.”

  “Then what happened?” Gabe folded his arms.

  “I heard one of them say Lady Sarah’s name.” He shrugged. “That’s all I heard before the man with the evil eyes looked at me again and asked where Lady Sarah was. I told them she was with Mr. Hampton.”

  “Was that all or did they say more?”

  “No, that was all they said, but they looked none too happy.”

  Releasing a pent-up breath, Gabe ran his fingers through his hair. None of this made sense, yet he needed to find out what was going on. Was Lady Sarah in danger? After all, her uncle was Oliver Townshend…a man who was not very popular with the Patriots. The problem was…Gabe didn’t know if Commodore Billingsford was after Lady Sarah—or after Gabe. He didn’t know why the Commodore would want Lady Sarah and refer to her the way he had. Things were getting more confusing by the second.

  “Levi, do you remember what they were wearing?” When the stable hand’s forehead creased in confusion, Gabe added, “I mean were they dressed like gentleman, or as farmers, or…Naval Officers?”

  “Only one was dressed like a naval officer—the man with the evil eyes and orange hair. The others were dressed like gentlemen.”

  That confirmed Gabe’s suspicions. Indeed, it was Commodore Billingford. “One last question, if you will. Did the man say if they would be back?”

  “No, Sir. He did not.”

  “I thank you for your assistance.” Gabe swung around and marched back toward the house. He needed to figure out this mystery soon before Lady Sarah was taken…or before Billingsford realized Gabe was staying here as well.

  The more and more he thought about staying low, the more he realized that going with Emiline to Salem looked better and better. His aunt and uncle must not let their servants know of their journey in case Billingsford decided to follow. It
could be done. Gabe would see to it personally.

  This meant he needed to let his uncle know why he needed to stay hidden and away from Billingsford. But before he did that, he must discover where Uncle Henry’s belief really lies…and which side of the ocean he supported in these perilous times.

  Quickly, Gabe stopped and turned back toward the stables. Levi was still out, thankfully. “Levi, will you get my uncle’s horse ready—and one for me as well? We shall go riding very soon.”

  “As you wish.” Levi rushed into the stables.

  Gabe smiled. Levi had always been so obedient. That was a good quality to have in a servant.