She was wrong, he thought. Very wrong.
If anyone dared stand in his way, dared to withhold any information, they would soon discover how ungentlemanly he could be.
CHAPTER 27
“Her Ladyship is not receiving visitors,” announced the sour faced footman who opened the door to his resounding knock.
“She will receive me,” insisted Lucius, pressing his silver topped cane across the man’s frogged livery and pinning him to the wall. “No need to announce me. I know the way.”
He stalked into the drawing room and nodded to Olivia, who sat quietly on the sofa. Rosemary immediately got to her feet, real fear in her eyes.
“What do you mean by bursting in on me?” she demanded, raking him with as scornful a glance as she was able. “I thought you a gentleman.”
“And I once thought you a lady,” Lucius returned.
The insult hit its mark and an angry flush mottled her neck. “La, sir, if you are here to trade words your mission is accomplished.”
“We both know it is not.” Lucius regarded her coldly.
Rosemary raised an eyebrow. “We have business of which I am not aware?”
“I need the direction of three of your dinner guests. Your nephew, Captain Kellen and Mr. Hooper.”
“I know them not.”
“Do not prevaricate, Rosemary. My temper is very short and you will not like the result if I am thwarted.”
For a moment Rosemary regarded him through narrowed eyes.
“Captain Kellen and Mr. Hooper were Peregrine’s guests. I have no idea where he found them, or what their direction might be.”
“You c-could t-try Tattersall’s. Peregrine s-said they were horse c-copers.”
Both Rosemary and Lucius turned to face Olivia who had risen from her seat. She approached Lucius hesitantly and held out a slip of paper.
“Directions to Peregrine’s lodging, t-though I doubt you will f-find him there.”
“Olivia!” hissed her mother. “Be quiet. You know nothing.”
“No?” Olivia’s laugh was brittle and there was no fondness in her face as she looked at her mother. She looked shyly up at Lucius. “I hope you are not offended, my Lord, but I had no wish to marry you and am glad you married Miss Devereux. It did not please mama which is why she engaged Peregrine to make something happen.”
Lucius looked at her more closely as he took the paper she offered. Something had changed in her. She spoke firmly with a determined glint in her eye.
“Thank you, Lady Olivia,” he said. “I am not at all offended and, even though I do not understand the cause of it, I commend your new found fortitude, but as for your mother. . “ He turned to Rosemary and brought his face very close to hers. “If one hair on my wife’s head is harmed and I find you are the cause of it, you will live to regret it.”
Lucius turned on his heel but the last voice he heard as he left the room was Olivia’s.
“Because she kicked my dog,” she called after him.
***
Lucius retrieved his horse from the footman who held it and trotted smartly off for Peregrine’s lodging. As Olivia predicted, he was not there and the landlord did not know when the young gentleman might be back.
Considering Olivia’s suggestion to be a sound one, he rode on to Tattersall’s premises near Hyde Park. It would be an easy matter to engage in conversation with any of the racing men he knew who might be there, and especially Richard Tattersall himself who would surely know a name or two and might even know of Captain Kellen.
It was, however, with some astonishment and relief that this was the first person Lucius came across.
“Kellen, a word if I may,” he said, catching his arm.
“Lord Clifton.” Kellen removed his hat in greeting. “Is there something I can do for you?”
“Tell me where my wife is,” Lucius growled, “and quickly.”
A shadow of alarm crossed Kellen’s face and Lucius watched it whiten.
“I do not know, my Lord,” he stammered. “All I can tell you is that Peregrine Styles was looking for Hooper. Since then I’ve seen neither of them nor want to as I discovered Hooper gypped me on several horse trades and put me seriously out of coin.”
“Find out what you can about his whereabouts. Send a note to me at Berkeley Square and I will see that your coin is replenished.”
He accepted Kellen’s thanks and, knowing he could accomplish nothing of use elsewhere, Lucius rode thoughtfully home to find Juliana anxiously awaiting him.
“Folkestone,” she said breathlessly. “Emmaline was in Folkestone. We had word a short time ago.”
“Why the devil would she be in Folkestone?” Lucius took the crumpled note Juliana handed him. “Do we know who this is from?”
He scanned it briefly. Could this be true? Or was it a cruel hoax?
“There was no name,” Juliana said, “and it did not come by post. The person who hand delivered it did not wait for an answer.”
“Then we go to Folkestone,” Lucius said. “This may be false information but it gives me a place to start.”
Hope curled in his chest and strengthened his resolve to find Emmaline.
“And I will come with you.”
Lucius looked at Juliana in astonishment.
“No,” he replied firmly. “I will not have you as well as Emmaline to worry about. You stay here and be prepared to do whatever directed. I will send word as soon as I can. Have Beamish help you if necessary.”
“We’ll both come,” Juliana insisted.
“Beamish is not a fighting man,” Lucius reminded her. “And there may well be fighting.”
Juliana opened her mouth but before she could say anything, Lucius held up his hand and shook his head.
“I will travel fast and light with only those necessary.”
Juliana held his gaze for a moment then nodded in acquiescence.
“Go, but be sure to bring her home,” she said.
CHAPTER 28
Lucius rode into Folkestone in the face of a north easterly storm. Head down against the driving rain, his horse jibbing against the onslaught, he pulled up at the first inn he came to.
“Stable my horse and be prepared for my carriage which is following,” he told the groom. As he entered the Rose and Crown, the landlord took one look at him, recognized quality when he saw it and took Lucius into a small but private parlour where a fire burnt merrily in the hearth.
“I will shortly be joined by three companions,” Lucius told him, “and will bespeak rooms for all. But for now we need coffee and brandy.”
He hung his dripping cloak over a chair back and turned to warm his hands over the flames. The landlord returned with a brandy decanter and glasses on a tray. Lucius turned his back to the fire and surveyed the man thoughtfully.
“Your name, landlord?”
“Pike, sir. Joseph Pike.” Pike put the tray on the table and poured brandy into a glass.
“How long has this storm been blowing?” Lucius cradled the snifter in his hand, swirling the liquid around the bowl to warm it.
“Started late this morning, sir.”
“So no shipping has been in or out of the harbour?”
“Only the packet for Boulogne. She left on the morning tide, before this started. Are you perhaps looking for a passage?”
“Quite likely I will be,” Lucius sipped the brandy, appreciating the rich, full flavour and guessing it to be contraband. “My wife has been abducted. I had word she was in Folkestone and being held at the Anchor in Beach Street. Do you know it?”
“Abducted, sir?” Pike’s eyebrows climbed towards his hairline. “You mean like, stolen away?”
Lucius nodded. “Exactly, Pike.”
“Well, sir, I’ll assist ye any way I can,” Pike said. “Though, beggin’ yer pardon, the Anchor’s a low sort of a dive to take a lady.”
“Considering the habits of my wife’s suspected abductor,” Lucius said roughly, “I feared it might be.”
>
Footsteps in the passageway announced the arrival of Edward, Noble and Tockington.
“This storm is not in our favour.” Lucius told them. “Nothing can leave the harbour right now, but I must get to the Anchor. If Emmaline is still there....” His voice trailed off as the men with him nodded their agreement.
“Pike.” Lucius stopped the landlord as he was about to leave. “Might you have a man available to take us to the Anchor?”
“I do at that, sir, and pleased to be of help.” Pike hurried away as a maid appeared with the coffee.
The wind moaned around the inn and slapped at the windows, against which rain rattled like small shot.
“A good night, I think, for what we have to do,” Lucius said as he listened to the wild weather outside. “Edward, did you bring the firearms in with you, or are they still in the strongbox?”
“Strongbox, sir.” Edward put down his empty coffee cup. “I’ll get them.”
“Noble, I want you and Tocky to play the good hosts. Drinks all round for whoever is in the tap room at the Anchor,” Lucius told them. “I’ll take a look first and see if Hooper and Styles are amongst them, although I suspect they may already be making passage.”
Edward returned, struggling with two boxes. Noble took one from him and lifted it onto the table. Lucius quickly opened it and scanned the contents. He took out two pistols, handing one to Noble and the other to Tockington as Edward opened the second box and took out one of the duelling pistols.
“I’ll load it, thank you, Edward.” Lucius took the pistol from him and reached for powder and shot.
As they prepared the weapons, Pike returned. The servant he had with him looked slightly askance at the firearms now lying upon the table.
“Peter here says a husband and wife by the name of Dufresne were at the Anchor yesterday,” Pike reported.
“Dufresne, you say?” Lucius sighted along the barrel of his pistol, imagining Styles in his sights. Was it a coincidence that Styles was using the name Dufresne? He thought not, but how the devil had he discovered it? He shot a questing glance at Pike’s man. “Did you see them?”
Peter shook his head. “The potboy at the Anchor’s my nephew. He said the cove was a restless sort and the lady was not well when they arrived. She kept to an upstairs chamber and wasn’t much seen.”
“Are they still there?”
“Don’t rightly know that, sir.”
“Well, never mind that now,” Lucius said. “We’ll find out soon enough. Are you all ready?”
Heavily cloaked against the weather, Lucius and his men followed Peter. Heads down and keeping as close as possible to the shelter of the tall houses overshadowing the narrow, darkened streets they dodged occasional barrels and stacks of nets as they hurried over the rain sluiced cobbles.
“There it is,” Peter said, pointing at the sign swinging on its bracket above the Anchor’s door.
“As disreputable as I suspected,” muttered Lucius, pausing to peer through the cracked and smoke grimed tap room window. “I trust Styles was able to somehow make Emmaline comfortable.”
Lanterns hanging from the low rafters lit the room. Two men sat at a table, another leaned against the chimney breast, no doubt warming himself. A fourth man sat alone with a bottle on the table and a tankard in his hand.
“That’s Hooper,” Lucius said.
“Don’t look none too happy,” remarked Tocky. “Do ye want me to engage ‘im in conversation?”
“Yes, find out from him what you can.” Lucius handed a purse to Noble. “Should be enough in there to get them to loosen their tongues. Edward, come with me. We’re going to find the landlord.”
“That would be Ted Barker, sir,” Peter offered.
Lucius thanked him and sent him back to the Rose and Crown with orders to have a meal ready for their return.
As Noble and Tocky entered the tap room, Lucius and Edward continued along the passageway. A poster advertising the rules of the house caught Lucius’ eye. It declared no thieves, fakirs, rogues or tinkers.
So much for that, he thought, for Styles qualified as both a thief and a rogue.
A one eyed man appeared from the cellar steps carrying a crate of bottles. His one good eye regarded them steadily.
“Are you Lord Clifton?” he asked quietly.
Lucius nodded. “That I am and come for the lady who is here.”
“She’s already gone, milord. They left this morning, just before this storm blew in. They’ll not have an easy passage.”
“Are you Barker?” Lucius asked.
The man shook his head. “Don’t worry about him, he’s passed out in the back parlour.”
“What vessels will be available to take us to Boulogne tomorrow?”
“That’ll depend on the weather. If this wind drops then Jem Tulley might be persuaded to take you. He came in just ahead of this storm. It won’t be easy though.”
“I’m not looking for easy, I’m looking for the quickest way to recover my wife. Your name, my man?”
There was a slight hesitation and Lucius felt a little uneasy with the one-eyed scrutiny to which he was subjected but the man nodded his head, as if assuring himself of what he should do.
“Just ask for Ned, milord.”
Lucius tipped his hat and turned to Edward.
“We’ll wait here. If Noble and Tocky are having any success with their questioning, my appearance may dry everyone’s tongue and render instant memory loss.”
“If you’ll step back here, milord,” Ned said, “you can wait out of sight. I’ll let your men know where you are.”
They followed Ned into the back parlour where the senseless landlord sprawled in an arm chair.
“It appears Mr. Barker enjoys his trade rather too much,” Lucius remarked.
So that Lucius could pass to sit at a battered table, Ned kicked the landlord’s legs to one side. The only result it elicited was a noisy grunt from the occupant of the chair. Edward pulled out another chair and sat down. After querying what they might like to drink, Ned went off to fetch porter and ale and they settled in to wait.
The sounds of raucous laughter from the direction of the tap room caught their attention. Someone started singing a bawdy shanty and it wasn’t long before Noble and Tocky emerged hanging on to each other with all the appearance of having drunk far too much.
Instead of heading out the front door, they turned towards the parlour and joined Lucius and Edward. Noble passed a hand over his forehead and Tocky just grinned.
“That Hooper was none too happy,” he said. “Much aggrieved that Styles hadn’t paid him but half of what they agreed. Sang like a bird, he did.”
“But where is Styles taking my wife? Does he know that?” Lucius asked impatiently.
“Lille.” Noble said promptly. “Apparently Lady Clifton has a price on her head and Styles intends to claim it for himself. At least, that’s what Hooper thinks.”
“Emmaline has a price on her head?” Lucius looked puzzled. “In God’s name what could she have done to deserve that?”
“Hooper didn’t know,” Tocky said. “All he did know was that Styles was on ‘is way to Lille. ‘E ‘ad to meet some French cove by the name of du Lully. Sorry, milord, it’s not much to go on.”
“Indeed, it’s more than we had an hour ago.” Lucius’ grey eyes glinted with a dangerous light. “Lady Clifton has mentioned the name to me, so I can verify that. I can only presume Lille is where he resides. Now all we need do is pray this storm blows itself out tonight and we can take passage tomorrow. Is Hooper still in the tap room?”
Noble nodded. “Out cold, milord. Took a drop too much like this souse here.”
“Good. Have Ned call the Watch. They can deal with Hooper. We’ll go back to the Rose and Crown.”
The covers were already laid by the time they returned to the inn. Pike took their wet cloaks as they took their seats at the table and assured them the food was good and hot and would be before them in the blink of an
eye.
A maid hurried in with a fully loaded tray of steaming food and they ate their fill of steak and kidney pudding, potatoes and gravy.
Lucius called for coffee and brandy.
“Thank you, Pike,” he said as the landlord poured snifters for them all. “What I don’t understand is why would they have chosen to depart from Folkestone and not Dover?”
“If I may make a suggestion, my Lord?” Pike stood in the doorway, the nearly empty decanter in his hand.
“Yes?”
“In Dover they would be most likely to have to take passage on a ship carrying mail and so not easily forgotten. Here, they could be more private like, as we have several fellows slip quietly in and out of Folkestone, if you get my meaning.”
Lucius held his glass up to the light the better to see the rich liquid it contained.
“Along with this Armagnac, if I am not mistaken,” he said quietly.
“You have a discerning taste, my Lord.” Pike grinned.
“I’ll not ask how you came by it,” Lucius responded. “But in the morning I’ll be looking for Jem Tulley. There’s nothing more we can do until then.”
At least nothing physical, he thought, but I can pray.
CHAPTER 29
By morning the wind had dropped and the sky was a clear, rain washed blue. The only reminder of the storm was a heavy swell, causing whitecaps to race across the top of the waves, and a report of a fishing boat aground on the beach at The Warren.
Ships in the harbour bobbed at their moorings, gulls squabbled over fish scraps on the quay and fishermen began to lay out their nets to dry and mend. They watched with mild curiosity as Lucius, cloak flowing and beaver hat sitting at a determined angle on his head, hurried by on his way to a meeting with Jem Tulley.
Captain Tulley was at first reluctant to take them. His price would be high, he said, because passengers, unlike contraband, could talk and loose talk cost lives.
“I have no interest in what you do or how you do it,” Lucius assured him. “Neither do my men. All I want, all I need, is passage to Boulogne. After that it will be as if we never met.”
His Dark Enchantress (Books We Love Regency Romance) Page 23
