A Good Rake is Hard to Find (27 page)

Hoping this time was different, Freddy hurried upstairs to find Leonora.

*   *   *

Upstairs in her bedchamber, Leonora was just pulling a wool gown over her head when a knock sounded on her door.

“Leonora, are you there?”

Her heart sang at the sound of his voice. Leonora grinned in spite of herself.

Meeting her maid's amused gaze, she shoved the girl away as she reached back to button her own gown and called out for him to come in.

“Don't you have a maid for that?” he asked, puzzled as she held up her gown with one hand. “Here let me help you.”

Turning obediently, she let him fasten her.

“I have more experience with the undoing of these,” he said wryly as he made his way up her back. “Are you changing because you are going on the walk to the folly?”

“Yes, Lady Melisande just asked me,” she said, shivering as he kissed the nape of her neck. Turning, she brushed her hands down over her gown, just to give them something to do. “She said you were going, as well.”

“I am,” he said, reaching out to take her upper arms in his hands. Leaning down, he kissed her. “There, that's better. I don't know why we should feel awkward in one another's presence after what happened last evening, but it happens sometimes, I suppose.”

“Perhaps because you left before I woke up,” she said, reaching up to fluff his cravat where it had folded in on itself. “I thought we'd go down to breakfast together.”

“That would hardly have been discreet, Leonora,” he said, his brows furrowed. “It's all well and good that we are betrothed, but I won't have the others at this party carrying tales back to London when the week is over.”

“So that's why you left,” she said with a sigh. “I thought since Sir Gerard and Lady Melisande gave us adjoining rooms we were going to make them think that we're lovers already. Not that it would be a lie now.”

“No, of course not,” he agreed, “but it's one thing for them to suspect but quite another to know. And besides that, I wanted to speak to my cousin.”

“Did you think of something regarding Jonathan?” Leonora asked, feeling a pang of guilt at how far her mind had wandered from the search for her brother's killer since their arrival.

“Perhaps,” Freddy said, kissing the end of her nose. “It occurred to me this morning that your brother might have spent the night here in this house before the race in which he was killed. And I wondered if my cousin had sent his things back to your father.”

It was something that had never occurred to her, and she was suddenly glad that Frederick was investigating this situation with her. “What did he say?”

“Jonathan did stay here that night,” Frederick said, the frown lines around his mouth pronounced as he spoke.

“And his things?” Leonora asked, trying not to think about what her brother's last moments had been like. Here, in the home of a man who had planned his demise.

Far from the father and sister who loved him.

“They are here,” Frederick said with a sigh. “Or they were. Gerard said that he'd had them boxed up and put in the attics, but the footman he sent to retrieve them couldn't find them. I thought perhaps you and I could look for them later.”

She wanted to go look for them that very minute, but Leonora knew that if either of them didn't show up downstairs at the appointed time for the trip to the folly, Sir Gerard and Lady Melisande would remark upon it.

As if reading her thoughts, Frederick touched her cheek and said, “We'll go as soon as we can after dinner tonight, I promise you.”

Nodding, she went in search of her hat and pelisse and they made their way downstairs to the drawing room.

If the good cheer she'd felt after last night's festivities had dissipated in the wake of recalling their true reason for journeying here, that was all right. Perhaps she'd needed to recall that their engagement was just an illusion created for the sake of the hunt.

 

Twenty

“I couldn't help but notice that you and your young man disappeared last night during the game,” Lady Darleigh said to Leonora as they walked behind the others along the winding path leading through the landscaped gardens of South Haven.

Leonora had thought she would escape the walk without any reference to the evening before. After all, the game had clearly been chosen because it offered the opportunity for couples to find a quiet corner in which to euphemistically spend time together. Lady Darleigh, it would seem, either hadn't known, or was simply too curious to stop herself.

“We got trapped in a closet on the upper floors,” Leonora lied with ease born of years spent deflecting the snide remarks of society gossips. “By the time we managed to get the door open, everyone else was gone and we decided to go to bed.”

“I meant nothing by it,” Lady Darleigh said with a dark blush. “I only meant that you missed the to-do when Lady Melisande shouted at Sir Gerard. It was quite a scene, I can assure you.”

Despite her dislike of gossip in general, Leonora found her curiosity piqued. “What happened?” she asked, careful not to walk too quickly lest they move into earshot of the others.

“Sir Gerard went to look for a hiding place with Mrs. Chater,” Lady Darleigh said in a low voice. “I hadn't realized he had any interest in her. She's such a mousy little thing.”

Astonished, Leonora could not disagree.

“I think perhaps they'd come to some sort of understanding about things, because when Lady Melisande found him with Mrs. Chater in the study, she accused him of going against their agreement. It was quite a loud altercation. I'm rather surprised you didn't hear them shouting. I know the rest of us all came running as soon as she shrieked.”

Leonora didn't bother offering up an excuse for why she and Freddy—supposedly trapped in a closet—hadn't been able to hear the contretemps. “I must say, I'm rather shocked that her reaction was so strong,” she admitted. “I find Lady Melisande to be rather cold, don't you?”

“Yes,” Lady Darleigh said quickly. “That is why I was so surprised at her strong response. I supposed she was indifferent to her husband at best. But apparently, she cares about his affair with Mrs. Chater. Either that or she's angry because he went back on his word. Whatever that promise might have been about.”

“Perhaps he said he would not see Mrs. Chater during this particular party,” Leonora said, pulling her pelisse more tightly around her. It was chilly out today, just as Lady Melisande had said it was. And she was grateful she'd changed into the wool for she'd have spent the entire walk miserable otherwise.

“Perhaps,” Lady Darleigh agreed. “But there seemed to be more to it than that. It felt like the ending of something. I don't know, though. One never really knows what goes on within the privacy of a marriage.”

Speaking of marriages, Leonora thought. “I wonder about that issue you mentioned to me before—your fears concerning what Sir Gerard might do to your husband if he leaves,” she said to the other woman. “Has that changed at all, or are you still worried?”

Lady Darleigh paused a moment before responding. “I did think that it was getting better,” she admitted, brushing at a lock of hair that had worked its way out of her chignon. “But that was before we made this trip.”

Before Leonora could reply, Lady Darleigh continued, “You know that as the crow flies, Sir Gerard's estate isn't far from the stretch of road where your brother was found.”

Leonora gasped at the other woman's words. It hadn't occurred to her the place where her brother had been murdered was in the vicinity.

But if the racers had departed from South Haven, then it made sense. “I didn't know,” she said, her voice calmer than she felt. “If you'll forgive, me, I thought the Anarchists were meant to travel from London to Dartford when they drove as a club.”

Lady Darleigh shook her head. “London to Dartford is only for the monthly processions involving the whole club. These smaller races, which are only open to those of Sir Gerard's choosing, take the route from Basildon to Dartford.”

Yet another circle within a circle for Gerard, Leonora thought, biting her lip. It was becoming difficult to tell the difference between the club for regular members and those aspects of the club Sir Gerard showed only to a special few.

“I'm afraid I didn't tell you the whole truth when we spoke about that day before.” Lady Darleigh tucked a strand of her windblown hair behind her ear. “I was afraid, you see. That you would refuse to help us if you knew the truth of the matter.”

She might have known it was only a partial truth, Leonora thought with frustration. It seemed that no one involved with the club—not even the wives—was capable of telling the honest truth. Still she could hardly rip up at the other woman when she was prepared to speak now.

“I hadn't realized,” Leonora said in what she hoped was a neutral tone. “I hope you'll tell me now.”

“I was here,” Lady Darleigh admitted. “The day of the race. A few of the club members—including your brother—Sir Gerard and Lady Melisande and my husband and me all stayed here at South Haven the night before the race.”

Not unlike the house party now, Leonora thought with a frown. With the exception that her brother wasn't here. But perhaps Freddy's presence made up for that in Sir Gerard's eyes?

“I thought my husband was going to be the one to race against Lord Payne that day,” Lady Darleigh continued, “but Darleigh spoke with your brother that morning, and suddenly it was Jonathan who was competing against Sir Gerard. I can't deny that I felt a certain measure of relief at the knowledge.”

Thinking of her brother and his propensity for rescuing those in need, Leonora had no difficulty believing that he had convinced Lord Darleigh to trade places. Jonny was one of the best drivers in England, and so too was Gerard. It would have been a much fairer competition than the earlier matchup would have been, since Darleigh, while competent, was no match for Payne.

“I know my brother changed places with your husband because he and Payne were more evenly matched,” she said aloud, “but why then did Lord Payne trade places with Sir Gerard?”

“No one knows for sure,” Lady Darleigh said in a low voice, “but Lady Payne confided to me that she learned from her husband that Sir Gerard had wished to race your brother for some time, but your brother always refused. In this case, because he was driving in my husband's stead, he could not cry off.”

A chill raced down Leonora's spine. It was almost as if Gerard had seen his opportunity to get Jonathan alone on a deserted stretch of the road, and went in for the kill. Closing her eyes against the image of her brother dead on the roadside, she took a deep breath.

Lady Darleigh was watching her closely, worry in her eyes. “I cannot tell you how sorry I am for what's happened.”

“I cannot blame you,” Leonora said, placing a hand on the other lady's shoulder as they continued to walk several yards behind the rest of the party. “You cannot have known what the outcome would be.”

“Certainly not,” Lady Darleigh said sadly. “And when I learned what happened, I was guilt-ridden. I hope you know, Miss Craven, that my husband had no idea that the race would have an outcome like that. Your brother took his place purely by chance. If we'd known…”

“It's all right,” Leonora assured the other woman. “You can hardly be blamed for not foretelling the future. But I wonder if you noticed anything untoward that day? Or perhaps your husband did?”

“It seemed unremarkable enough,” Lady Darleigh said, trudging along the path beside Leonora. “We were waiting at the Black Dog in Dartford for them to finish. I didn't know anything was wrong until Sir Gerard came riding up in a cloud of dust calling for a physician.”

“He was alone?” Leonora asked, frowning. For some reason, it seemed odd that the baronet would not stay with her brother, though she supposed it was necessary that someone go in search of a surgeon.

“Yes,” Lady Darleigh said, shaking her head. “He was as calm as you please. He said there had been a terrible accident. If it had been me, I'd have been trembling from head to toe, but Sir Gerard kept a cool head.”

Perhaps too cool, Leonora thought grimly.

“I didn't know at that point that your brother had taken my husband's place, or that Sir Gerard was riding for Lord Payne,” Lady Darleigh explained, shuddering at the memory. “My first thought on seeing Sir Gerard shouting for a physician was that my Robert had been killed. I was beside myself with worry, but finally Lady Melisande managed to get through to me that it had been Jonathan driving and not Robert. I'm so sorry to admit such a thing to you. But if you knew how much I rely upon my husband.”

“Please don't apologize,” Leonora assured her. She could imagine herself in the same position and knew she'd have been frantic with worry. It wasn't Lady Darleigh's fault that her husband had switched places without her knowing it. “I don't blame you one bit.”

“Thank you, Miss Craven,” the other woman said with genuine appreciation. “The thing is, my poor husband was devastated at what happened to Mr. Craven. I don't think he knew what was going to happen, either. And I know he was terribly upset about it. That's what made me wonder if he knew that your brother's accident was intended for him.”

Something occurred to Leonora. “Lady Darleigh, if your husband wasn't with you, and he wasn't driving the race against Sir Gerard, then where was he that day?”

The other woman started, as if the question had never crossed her mind.

“I … I'm not entirely sure,” she said with a frown. “He wasn't with me and Lady Melisande at the Black Dog. I suppose I thought he'd just driven back to South Haven when he learned he wasn't going to race.”