Lady Margaret's Mystery Gentleman

by Christine Merrill

  She had to be speaking of Sterling. He blinked in surprise for he’d heard nothing from his friend about a penchant for Lady Olivia. ‘Surely you do not think the Duke is capable of murder.’

  ‘I do not know what to think,’ she said, her face clouding with confusion. ‘I only know what I have seen for myself. And I would advise you, for Peg’s sake and your own well-being, to be more careful in your interactions with my sister.’

  ‘I will take your words to heart,’ he said, wondering if it would be possible for Peg to get more information out of her.

  Suddenly the door opened and Peg entered, looking at the two of them with narrowed eyes. ‘I had no idea that it was time for our lesson with Mr Castell. Someone seems to have set the clock in the morning room back a quarter of an hour.’

  ‘How strange,’ replied her sister, giving her a blank look.

  Peg stared back at her. ‘It is good to see that one of us knew the correct time.’

  Lady Olivia tapped the watch pinned to her bodice and smiled.

  Peg walked to the window and opened it with a yank that sent the sash crashing upward. ‘I would not want you to be late for your appointment with Alister,’ she said, offering an artificial smile.

  ‘He will not mind if I am needed elsewhere,’ Olivia said, eyes locked on her sister.

  ‘You are not needed, or wanted,’ Peg snapped. ‘Now go on your own before I push you out that window.’

  Lady Olivia held up her hands in surrender and walked to the window. As she straddled the sill she gave David a final look of warning before disappearing from sight.

  Peg slammed the window shut after her, then turned to him, obviously still furious. ‘What did she say to you?’ she demanded.

  He smiled back at her, hoping to dissipate her anger. ‘I am not sure, but I think she just told me that your brother killed Dick Sterling because he offered for her.’

  It seemed he had succeeded for her eyes went wide and her jaw dropped in amazement.

  ‘She also said I should stay away from you, because you are getting too attached to me,’ he added, then waited to see how she responded.

  ‘Liv needs to mind her own business,’ she replied with a wave of her hand. ‘She has problems of her own if she thinks Hugh is murdering her suitors. She had best worry about Alister and leave me to make my own decisions.’

  She had not admitted that she had feelings for him, but neither did she deny it. It gave him reason to hope. He gave her his most winning smile. ‘And what sort of decisions might those be?’

  She folded her arms in front of her and gave him a considering look. ‘She said I must not get attached to a man I know nothing about.’

  ‘This is probably true,’ he agreed, feeling his chance slipping away.

  ‘So, you must tell me more about yourself. You know almost everything about me and are learning more about my family with each day that passes. But I know very little about you. When you are away from me what sort of life do you lead, precisely?’ she asked.

  He shrugged, wishing he could deflect this sudden curiosity that would only call attention to how different they were. ‘There is nothing that would interest you, I’m sure.’

  ‘But I am interested,’ she insisted. ‘How does one decide to become a newspaper reporter?’

  ‘Not everyone is born to the gentry,’ he reminded her with a sad smile. ‘Some of us have to work for a living. But if you must know, I decided on it when I was in school.’

  ‘You went to school,’ she said, eyes wide. Then she covered her mouth in embarrassment, probably fearing that she had insulted him again.

  ‘A very good school,’ he assured her. ‘I am a natural son, but my father, Lord Penderghast, acknowledged me from the first. He saw to it that I was properly educated.’

  ‘And do you see him often?’ she said, probably imagining that he was a beloved member of the family.

  ‘No,’ he replied with a tight smile. ‘We have seldom spoken. I think his generosity is in some way attached to the hope that he need never communicate with me, outside of a signature on the occasional cheque.’

  ‘I see,’ she replied, her face clouding with what looked like pity.

  ‘It does not matter to me,’ he said hurriedly. ‘I have got all I need out of him. Once I had matriculated, he gifted me with a settlement sufficient to set me up in the business of my choosing.’

  ‘But you are not close as a father and son should be,’ she reminded him.

  ‘You mean, like your father and brother,’ he reminded her.

  ‘Despite what you think, they were very alike,’ she said.

  ‘Yet it does not appear to have ended well,’ he replied.

  She shook off his suggestions, turning the conversation back to him. ‘So, your estranged father gave you a settlement. What did you do with it?’

  ‘I scrimped while I was in school, using as little of my allowance as I could and avoiding foolish pastimes that most of the boys took part in. I combined what money I had saved with his final gift and invested it, living off the earnings of what jobs I could find until such time as the returns on the investment came in,’ he said. ‘While I was in school, I enjoyed writing and have always had a healthy curiosity. So, I presented myself to a local newspaper and proclaimed myself willing to write whatever it was that was needed for whatever they were willing to pay me.’

  ‘And you made a success of it?’

  ‘Not at first,’ he admitted. ‘It was dashed hard to get assignments and even harder to get paid for them. But I persisted and have made a comfortable living at it, while continuing to tend the nest egg.’

  ‘How interesting.’ Now her eyes were wide with approval at his apparent ingenuity.

  He laughed. ‘Only a person raised to have no occupation can be that fascinated by regular employment. All the same, I thank you.’

  She blushed. ‘You must think me terribly silly. Sometimes I cannot seem to find the right words to speak to you.’

  ‘That is because we are very different,’ he reminded her. ‘You have been sheltered from people like me. You can hardly be blamed for it, since any man of sense wants his sisters to live lives free of care. I am doing well now, but a few years ago I missed more meals than I ate and lived in a room smaller than the one you would give to a maid.’ And there was the truth of it. Now she must see that he was nothing.

  ‘You worked hard until you could live comfortably,’ she said.

  He nodded, surprised at the pride he heard in her voice, as if she shared in the joy of his success.

  Now she frowned. ‘I have never known a life other than the one I have right now. But, sometimes, I think it had been a little too safe,’ she said. ‘It cannot be good for the character to be so completely isolated from the rest of the world that one does not see what is going on under one’s very nose.’

  It was probably true. When he had come to this house he had expected Peg and her sister to be as vapid and foolish as many of the ladies of the ton. It had been a relief to find that he was wrong. ‘Your curiosity about others does you credit,’ he assured her. ‘It is one of your many appealing qualities. It is no fault of yours that you have had little opportunity to exercise it.’

  ‘It is not that I object to the way my brother treats me,’ she said hurriedly. ‘As you say, he has my best interests at heart.’

  ‘But you long for adventure,’ he said with a nod.

  ‘And you have had them,’ she said. ‘Tell me about the things you have written.’ She pulled up one of the little gold chairs in the corner of the room and gestured to a second one for him.

  He sat down, stretching his legs. ‘Well, now. Let me see. There must be some stories fit for a lady’s ears.’ He began to recount a tale of a series of robberies from great houses in Sussex and the discovery that a local vicar was pilfering things as he made visits to h
is parishioners. He followed this with the case of a notorious murder in the West End and the interview he had done with the man who was charged. He had continued to claim innocence, even as he was walked to the gallows.

  ‘And was he innocent?’ she asked, leaning forward.

  ‘I seriously doubt it. He was found after the last killing holding a knife and covered with blood,’ David replied. ‘But I suspect there is not a man alive who will not claim innocence to save their own neck from the noose.’

  ‘And some of them are telling the truth,’ Peg said, with a firm nod. ‘You have seen the worst of mankind, so of course you find it hard to believe, but not all those accused are guilty.’

  ‘And you mean to prove it to me,’ he said. The smile she was giving him was so brilliant that he almost wished she could succeed.

  ‘Once all the evidence has been gathered, you will see that you have been mistaken about Hugh,’ she replied. ‘But I cannot think of anything here that will prove it to you.’

  ‘I have been giving thought to how best we might proceed in our investigation,’ he replied, wondering if she would be brave enough to do what he was going to suggest.

  At this, she brightened and leaned forward, eager to hear what would come next.

  ‘I am afraid Mr Castellano is about to come down with an ague that will make lessons impossible for some days,’ he said, holding up a hand to stop her protest. ‘You and your sister will decide to go shopping instead.’

  ‘But my brother’s men will never allow a meeting,’ she reminded him. ‘I am quite sure we are followed wherever we go to prevent us from getting up to the sort of things you are planning.’

  He reached into his pocket and pulled out the list of directions he had created for her. ‘I will take care of the men who are following you. You and your sister must follow this route to the letter. If Lady Olivia wishes to meet with her Alister, he will find her at this address.’ He tapped a line at the bottom of the page. ‘I will come for you there, as well.’

  ‘And then?’ she asked, fascinated.

  ‘I have not yet decided,’ he lied. The destination he had in mind was the last place she belonged, but it was the next best place to search.

  ‘It will be a surprise,’ she said, as if they were going on a great adventure and not trying to find the information that could destroy her family. She glanced at the clock on the mantle. ‘But that brings us to the question of what we should do with the half hour left to us today.’

  He knew what he wished to do with the time and it was an even worse idea than the trip he was planning for her. He cleared his throat. ‘What do you wish to do?’

  ‘I do not want to waste it dancing,’ she said, leaning forward in her chair so he could hold her.

  * * *

  For a man who was supposed to ruin her reputation, David Castell was surprisingly missish. Her approach seemed to startle him, which made her worry that her advances had become unwelcome. Had Liv really threatened him to the point where he did not want her?

  Then he leaned forward and reached for her, as well. Once his arms were around her, he whispered, ‘I should not allow myself to be persuaded so easily. But I have wanted this from the first moment I saw you.’

  ‘Really?’ she said.

  To prove it, his head dipped forward and their lips met. It was the best possible answer, far better than words. He showered her mouth with a series of brief kisses before setting there, easing her lips apart.

  She relaxed and let him take her mouth with slow strokes of his tongue. Eventually he eased away and settled his mouth against her ear to whisper, ‘I dream about making love to you.’

  ‘You do?’ She wished she could say the same, but she had been afraid to even think about it, much less dream that it might happen.

  His hand crept up her body to settle over the swell of her breast, giving it a gentle squeeze. ‘I think of what I will do if we could find a place to be alone, even for an hour.’

  ‘Tell me,’ she whispered back.

  ‘I would have you out of this dress and I would kiss every inch of your body,’ he said, nipping the lobe of her ear.

  The words sent a shudder through her that seemed to start somewhere deep inside. ‘Tell me more,’ she said, wanting to feel that excitement again.

  ‘Do you understand what happens between a man and a woman, when they are in love?’ he asked.

  She had a vague idea, but she shook her head, wanting him to explain it to her.

  He chuckled and each puff of air chased up and down the nerves of her body like sparks. Then he began to talk. He described the most intimate part of her body to her, explaining the delicious sensations he could raise in it.

  In response, she felt the words on her skin, as gentle as the touches he described. The sensation hummed through her body and she felt herself opening to him, like the flowers he compared her to.

  He described his own body to her, his words hard and rough and full of need. And as she leaned into him, she could feel his hard-muscled thigh pressing against her leg. He told her of their joining and something seemed to burst and flood through her, leaving her shaking in his arms.

  He laughed again, soft and approving. ‘My darling. My sweet love. My dreams will not live up to the reality of you.’

  She was not sure what he meant, but she felt much the same thing about him. If the way she felt now was a foretaste of what could happen in the future, then love must be very wonderful indeed.

  Her sister’s whistle came from the garden and he leaned back in his chair, taking a steadying breath before reaching out to tuck a loose lock of hair behind her ear. ‘Go to her,’ he whispered. ‘And remember. Tomorrow, we meet on Bond Street.’

  She nodded and went to the window, trying to pretend that her life had not just been changed by a whisper and a kiss.

  Chapter Ten

  As he had promised, the next morning they received a letter announcing that Mr Castellano had taken ill and would not be giving lessons until the worst had passed.

  Olivia was put out by the news since it meant a change in her plans, as well. It took some time for Peg to explain the urgent need to use the time shopping on Bond Street and the fact that it would be possible to meet with Alister for as long as she liked, if he arrived at the address she provided.

  ‘And what will you be doing, while I am with him?’ Liv said, folding her arms in a show of resistance.

  ‘You have not been troubled to leave me alone thus far,’ Peg reminded her. ‘Now is not the time to start. Besides, I will be safer wandering through the shops than I am at home.’

  ‘That is probably true,’ Liv agreed, relaxing somewhat, though still obviously suspicious. ‘But I do not understand what you are up to that requires leaving the house at all.’

  ‘The less you know about that, the better,’ Peg said. ‘If Hugh gets wind of it, he will be most unhappy and you will not want to be complicit.’

  Liv waved her hands in surrender. ‘You are right. Whatever is happening, I do not want to know of it. But it is a comfort to know that, if we are discovered, you will be in far more trouble than I am.’

  * * *

  They waited until afternoon, so that the trip could be attributed to normal boredom and not a substitution for the missing lesson. Then they set out together through the front door on their feigned shopping excursion.

  Behave normally. That was what David had said. But now that Peg was called on to do it, it was much harder than it appeared to act as if nothing was unusual. As they walked out towards Bond Street, she knew that they were being followed by agents of her brother, just as they always were when they left the house. But today, the back of her neck itched with the feeling of eyes marking her every move.

  She took a deep breath and focused on the pavement in front of them, clutching Olivia’s hand.

  ‘This is a disaster
in the making,’ her sister muttered through barely parted lips. ‘Hugh will know of our movements by supper and we will never be allowed out again.’

  ‘We will be fine,’ Peg replied with the faintest of nods. ‘David has a plan.’

  ‘So it’s David now, is it?’

  She dipped her head so the brim of her bonnet could hide her blush. ‘It seems silly to call him by his last name, now that I know him better.’

  ‘Remember what I told you about flirtations with the dancing master,’ her sister said, trying to sound stern.

  ‘It is not a flirtation,’ she responded. In truth, it had become much more than that. ‘I just want to prove to him that he is wrong about Hugh.’ Because, if he was right, there was no hope for anything more between them.

  Liv responded with a sceptical stare. ‘Very well. If you think you can find our brother innocent, then I am eager to see you try. But I do not want to see you disappointed...’ she paused ‘...in Hugh, or with your friend David.’

  Peg responded with what she hoped was a knowing laugh. ‘You do not have to worry about me. My heart is not so easily engaged as that.’

  ‘Of course not, wise woman of the world,’ her sister said with a doubting smile. ‘But today, you must show me why you have such faith in the man.’

  ‘We will see soon enough if he is worthy of it,’ Peg replied and gave a subtle inclination of her head. ‘According to his note, we are to turn quickly at the next corner.’

  They did as instructed and disappeared down the side street and then turned down an alley before their followers could catch up with them. Peg counted out doorways, pulling her sister into an inauspicious entryway and shutting the door behind them. They found themselves in a dimly lit hallway and walked to its end, turned right and followed the next passage.

  When Peg was almost ready to give up hope that they would ever see the outside world again, they emerged in the storeroom of a haberdashery, streets from where they had begun. When they stepped into the main room of the shop, Alister was waiting for them, just as he had been instructed.