by Amanda Quick
“I hesitate to ask this, but what, exactly, happened to Honora?”
“When her father found out she had given herself to Baxter and nearly ruined the company in which he had shares in the process, he married her off very quietly.”
“To whom?” Anthony asked curiously.
“An aging partner in the shipping venture.”
Anthony narrowed his gaze. “Any chance she’s the mysterious Alice? Out for revenge?”
“Not likely. The last I heard, she was pregnant with her second child and still living out in the islands. The elderly partner has apparently decided to found himself a shipping dynasty.”
“So that leaves us with the mysterious Alice and a possible connection to Neil Baxter.” Anthony reflected on that for a moment. “What about Phoebe?”
Gabriel reluctantly pulled himself away from his thoughts. “What about her?”
“You are quite certain she is safe while you go about the business of trying to find Alice?”
“Yes, of course. Did you think I would leave her unprotected?”
“No,” Anthony said. “But I thought that by now you would have realized it is rather difficult to protect Phoebe if she is not inclined to be cooperative. Where is she?”
“At home. The staff has been alerted not to allow any strangers into the house under any pretext.”
Anthony scowled. “Phoebe’s agreed to stay in the house all day?”
“She will stay there as long as it is necessary. I have given her instructions not to leave unless I accompany her or unless Stinton is free to keep an eye on her.”
Anthony’s jaw dropped. “You’ve confined Phoebe to the house?”
“Yes.”
“Indefinitely?”
“Yes.”
“She’s agreed to this?” Anthony demanded warily.
Gabriel drummed his fingers on the arm of the chair. “Phoebe will do as she is told.”
“Devil take it, man. Are you mad? This is Phoebe we’re talking about. She does exactly as she wishes. What makes you think she’ll obey you?”
“She’s my wife,” Gabriel said.
“What difference does that make? She never went out of her way to obey her father or me, her older brother. Phoebe has always been guided by her impulsive nature. My God, she could be riding merrily off into danger at this very moment. She’s probably convinced herself she’s on another quest to find the mysterious Alice.”
Gabriel got to his feet, unwilling to reveal how uneasy Anthony was making him. “I gave her strict orders to stay at home today. She knows better than to flaunt those orders.”
“Brave words,” Anthony growled. “But this is my sister we’re talking about. She ran away from you once before, if you will recall.”
Gabriel winced. “That was a different matter entirely.”
“So you say. I’m going to call on her at once. I want to be certain she is at home.”
“She will be there.”
Anthony shot him a derisive look as he headed toward the door. “Ten pounds says she’s not. I know Phoebe. She is too headstrong by far to take orders from a husband.”
“I’ll accompany you on this call you intend to pay on my wife,” Gabriel said. “And make no mistake, I fully intend to collect my ten pounds.”
“And if she is not at home? What will you do then?” Anthony challenged.
“Find her and lock her in her bedchamber,” Gabriel vowed.
“Phoebe’s very good at knotting bedsheets together,” Anthony reminded him.
Meredith and Lydia arrived at the town house within half an hour after Phoebe sent her messages to them. They hastened into the drawing room, expressions of grave alarm on their faces.
“What is this about Wylde confining you to the house?” Lydia demanded as she pulled her spectacles out of her reticule and ran a worried eye over Phoebe. “What has happened? Has he beaten you? I vow, your Papa will not stand for that. And neither will I. We agreed to allow him to marry you because we thought he could deal with you, but he goes too far, by heaven.”
Meredith gave Phoebe an anxious look as she untied her bonnet strings. “Has he hurt you, Phoebe? I warned you he was not a patient man. Nevertheless, rest assured we will not let him get away with abusing you.”
Phoebe smiled serenely and reached for the teapot. “Please be seated. It is a very exciting story. And as I am longing to tell someone the tale, I decided to send for you and Mama.”
Lydia eyed her warily as she seated herself. “Phoebe, this is not some sort of jest, is it? When I got your note, I was extremely worried. Are you or are you not confined to the house?”
“I have been forbidden to leave unless Wylde escorts me.” Phoebe wrinkled her nose. “Or unless a certain Mr. Stinton is available to follow me about. It is most annoying, I assure you.”
“Then it’s true? You have been confined against your will?” Meredith searched her face as she accepted her cup of tea.
“It certainly was not my choice,” Phoebe said.
“Then why, might one ask, are you staying put?” Lydia asked bluntly.
“Because Wylde is extremely worried about my safety.” Phoebe sipped her tea. “Actually, I take it as a rather hopeful sign, if you must know the truth. I think he is worried because he loves me. Not that he will admit it, of course.”
Meredith exchanged glances with Lydia and then turned back to Phoebe, “Perhaps you had better start from the beginning.”
“Perhaps I should,” Phoebe agreed. She ran through the tale quickly. “The thing is, we do not know who, precisely, this Alice is. Nor do we know how she came to learn of the curse in the back of The Lady in the Tower. Gabriel suspects Neil Baxter is involved somehow.”
“Good grief,” Lydia said. “Will we never be free of that abominable man?”
Phoebe pursed her lips. “I am not at all certain Neil has anything to do with this. I feel it’s quite possible that Wylde is leaping to conclusions simply because he does not have any liking for Neil and because he may be just a tiny bit jealous.”
“Ah, that would explain his reaction, wouldn’t it?” Meredith murmured.
“I like to think so,” Phoebe agreed cheerfully. “However, the fact remains that Wylde has forbidden me to even communicate with Neil, so I cannot talk to him to get his side of the story.”
“Just as well, if you ask me,” Lydia said. “Well, then, what are Meredith and I to do? Entertain you during the course of your imprisonment?”
“Mother, really.” Meredith frowned at her. “She is hardly a prisoner.”
“Yes, I am,” Phoebe said.
“Yes, she is,” Lydia agreed.
Meredith scowled at both of them. “Wylde is quite right to keep you safely tucked up here until he can determine what is going on, Phoebe. I do not blame him in the least.”
“I’m sure he means well,” Phoebe said. “Wylde generally does mean well. It is just that he tends to go about things in a rather heavy-handed fashion. But I expect I shall be able to correct that bad habit in time.”
“Excellent attitude.” Lydia smiled with maternal approval. “Always knew you’d make a clever wife, Phoebe.”
Meredith’s lovely brow creased in another gentle frown. “You should not be plotting to correct your husband’s habits, Phoebe. You should be grateful that he is able to guide you.”
“I suggest we change the subject,” Phoebe said determinedly. “Now, then, I asked both of you to come here today for a reason. I have every intention of getting myself out of prison as quickly as possible.”
Lydia’s brows rose. “And just how do you plan to do that?”
Phoebe smiled. “With your help, of course.”
Meredith gasped. “You surely cannot mean you want Mama and me to help you sneak out of the house. Phoebe, it would not be right to go against your husband like that. Not when all he is trying to do is protect you. And Wylde would be furious if we did get you out.”
“I do not intend to defy Wylde i
n this,” Phoebe said.
“Thank heaven.” Meredith sagged with relief.
“What I intend to do,” Phoebe continued smoothly, “is help Wylde solve the puzzle of who is behind these strange occurrences.”
“Oh, my God,” Meredith murmured.
Lydia gazed intently at Phoebe. “Just how do you plan to solve this puzzle?”
“First,” Phoebe said as she poured more tea, “we must discover the truth about Neil. I wish to know for certain if he is truly a villain or merely the victim of unfortunate misunderstandings and circumstances.”
“How do you propose to learn the truth?” Lydia’s eyes were alight with curiosity behind the lenses of her spectacles.
“I believe you are in a very good position to help, Mama.” Phoebe smiled. “I want you to question your card-playing friends very carefully and with great subtlety. They are always a wonderful source of gossip. Let as see if they know anything about Neil and a woman named Alice.”
“That,” Lydia exclaimed, “is not a bad notion.”
“I suppose there would be no harm done,” Meredith agreed slowly.
“And as for you, Meredith,” Phoebe said, “I believe you are in a position to make inquiries, also.”
Meredith’s eyes widened. “You mean because of the amount of entertaining I do?”
“Precisely. And because people talk to you freely. When they look at you, they see only a demure paragon of womanhood.”
“You needn’t go into details,” Meredith said. “I am well aware that most people do not believe I have a brain in my head. And I will admit that perception is useful at times. I have had some experience picking up bits and pieces of information that Trowbridge has found helpful in his business affairs.”
“You know very well your husband relies on you as an equal partner in his business affairs because of your skills. Will you help me?”
“Of course,” Meredith said.
Lydia beamed with pleasure. “I really did a rather fine job of raising you two, if I do say so.”
The drawing room door crashed open at that moment and everyone turned in surprise as Anthony and Gabriel stalked into the room.
Gabriel’s eyes went first to Phoebe. She saw intense relief mingled with a great deal of masculine satisfaction reflected there. She arched one brow in a silent question.
“Told you she’d be here,” Gabriel said to Anthony.
“Well, I’ll be damned.” Anthony chuckled. “So she is. My compliments, Wylde. I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes. Good afternoon, ladies.”
“Good afternoon, my lords,” Phoebe said politely. “We were not expecting you. Would you care for tea?”
Gabriel grinned as he went toward her. “That sounds delightful, my dear. I see you have summoned some visitors to keep you company while you pine away here in prison.”
“Yes, Mama and Meredith were kind enough to visit today.” Phoebe handed him his cup of tea. She was about to explain her brilliant plan when she heard a familiar footstep in the hall. It was accompanied by an equally familiar voice.
“Where the hell is my daughter?”
“That will be Clarington,” Lydia murmured. “It’s about time he got here.”
Gabriel frowned. “What the devil does he want?”
The door burst open again and Clarington stomped into the room. He gave Phoebe a quick assessing glance and then rounded on Gabriel.
“I understand you have been beating my daughter, sir.”
“Not yet,” Gabriel said dryly. “I admit the temptation has been there on a couple of occasions, but thus far I have resisted.”
“Damnation, what is this about, locking her up inside her own house, then?” Clarington demanded.
“Phoebe has become extremely interested in domestic matters of late and has developed a preference for home and hearth,” Gabriel said. He gave Phoebe a challenging smile. “Is that not right, my dear?”
“That is certainly one way of putting it,” Phoebe said demurely. “Will you have a cup of tea, Papa?”
“No, thank you. On my way to a meeting of the Analytical Society.” Clarington shot a sharp, questioning glance at each of the members of his family. “Everything all right, then?”
Lydia smiled sweetly. “Everything is just fine between Phoebe and Wylde, dear. But there appears to be a slight problem with that odious Neil Baxter.”
Clarington glowered at Gabriel. “Damnation, man, why don’t you do something about Baxter?”
“I intend to,” Gabriel said.
“Excellent. I shall leave Baxter to you, then. You seem quite capable of dealing with that sort of problem. If you need my assistance, feel free to call on me In the meantime, I must be off.” Clarington nodded at his wife and walked out of the drawing room.
Phoebe waited until her father had left and then she smiled very brightly at Gabriel. “I have some wonderful news, Wylde. Mama and Meredith are going to help me track down the truth about Neil Baxter. Never fear, we shall get to the bottom of this.”
“Bloody hell.” Gabriel choked on the tea he had just swallowed. Anthony walked across the room and pounded him helpfully between the shoulders.
“Don’t look so stunned, Wylde,” Anthony said as Gabriel coughed and sputtered. “You should know by now that there is rarely a dull moment around Phoebe.”
Chapter 19
Gabriel managed to restrain himself until his in-laws had finally departed. The moment the last of the clan was out the door, he confronted Phoebe. “You will put this insane notion of investigating Baxter out of your brain immediately,” he said. “I will not have you getting involved in this.”
“I am already involved,” Phoebe pointed out. “And in any event, it will be Mama and Meredith who do the investigating. I have been forbidden to leave the house, if you will recall.”
He wanted to shake her. “You don’t understand how dangerous Baxter is.”
“Mama and Meredith are not going to take any risks,” Phoebe said soothingly. “They are merely going to make a few inquiries. Mama will bring up Neil’s name over a hand of whist and Meredith will mention it to some doddering old peer who is in his cups at one of her soirees.”
“I don’t like it.” Gabriel started to pace the drawing room. “I already have Stinton working on the matter.”
“Stinton cannot move about in Society the way Mama and Meredith can.”
“Your brother and I will deal with Society.”
Phoebe shook her head. “You and Anthony will not be able to get gossip out of Mama’s card-playing cronies. And Meredith can talk to people at her parties in a way you and Anthony could not. Admit it, Gabriel. My plan to investigate Neil is extremely clever.”
Gabriel ran a hand through his hair and gazed at Phoebe in frustration. The worst of it was he knew she was right. Lady Clarington and Meredith could probe in ways that he and Anthony could not. “I still don’t like it.”
“I know you don’t, Gabriel It is because you are worried about me. It is very sweet of you.”
“Sweet?”
“Yes. But I am perfectly safe here in the house and Mama and Meredith will not be in any danger so long as they merely ask a few discreet questions. Admit it.”
“Perhaps,” he said reluctantly. “But the thought of your family getting involved in all this makes me extremely uneasy.”
Phoebe got to her feet and walked across the room to stand looking up at him. A gentle, rather wistful smile played about her soft mouth. “Do you know what your problem is, Gabriel?”
He eyed her warily. “What?”
“You are not accustomed to being part of a family. You have been on your own for so long you don’t understand what it means to have others around who care about you. You don’t know what it is to have people about who are always on your side, regardless of the circumstances.”
“This is your family we are talking about, not mine,” he muttered. “They are rallying around you, not me.”
“It amounts to the same thing now. As far as they are concerned, you’re a member of the family because you are married to me.” Phoebe’s smile widened. “You must face the fact that you are no longer alone in the world, Gabriel.”
No longer alone. He looked down into her warm eyes and felt something inside him start to loosen and untwist. Instinctively he resisted the hint of weakness he sensed within himself. That way lay disaster. He must not let emotion rule him.
“You think this is just another grand adventure, don’t you, Phoebe? None of you knows what Baxter is really like.” Gabriel paused, thinking it through. “But I suppose there is little I can do to stop your mother and Meredith from asking their questions. Perhaps they will learn something useful. In the meantime, you are to stay here in the house.”
Phoebe made a face. “Yes, my lord.”
Gabriel smiled briefly, in spite of his dark, uneasy mood. He clamped his hands around Phoebe’s shoulders, pulled her close, and dropped a quick, hard kiss on her forehead. “Remind me to add ten pounds to your quarterly allowance.”
“Why are you increasing my allowance by ten pounds? I am not short of funds.”
“I owe you the ten pounds. It is in the nature of a debt of honor.” Gabriel released her and started toward the door. “Your brother wagered that amount that you would not obey my command to stay inside the house. As I fully intend to collect from him, I feel it’s only fair to give the money to you. After all, I could not have won without your assistance.”
Phoebe gasped in outrage. “You won a wager based on the fact that I obeyed you? How dare you.” She launched herself across the room, grabbed an embroidered pillow off the sofa, and hurled it straight at Gabriel’s head.
Gabriel did not bother to turn around. He put up a hand and caught the pillow as it sailed past his ear. “I congratulate you, my dear. At the rate you are going, we shall soon turn you into a paragon of wifely virtue.”
“Never.”
Gabriel grinned to himself as he went out the door. He hoped she was right.
Two hours later Gabriel was no longer grinning. He walked through the door of the nondescript tavern and quickly scanned the small, nearly empty room. Stinton was sitting at a table, waiting for him. Gabriel crossed the wooden floor and sat down in the chair across from the little man.
