A Good Rake is Hard to Find (31 page)

“Now,” Lady Melisande said with authority. “You must go. Hurry. There isn't much time.”

Mindful of her words, Leonora walked as quickly as she could without drawing attention to herself to the wing of the house where Aunt Hortense had been holding court. For someone who claimed to be at death's door, she looked fit as a fiddle when Leonora stepped into her bedchamber.

Quickly, she outlined their need to leave at once, a plan which Hortense readily agreed to.

“I have been bored almost to death in this house, gel,” she told Leonora. “I wish you'd asked me to leave sooner!”

Leonora wasn't sure she and her aunt had been at the same house party, but for the sake of expedience did not say so. “I will see you back in London after you've spent a few days resting at Lady Mumford's home. Will that be agreeable?”

The old woman gave what would in a younger person have been a shrug. “I suppose it will have to do. Clara is a bit of a hypochondriac, but I shall manage to endure it for a few days. Then when I hear from you that the coast is clear I will leave for London.”

Relief washed over Leonora. “Thank you for agreeing so readily, aunt. I was afraid you'd be difficult.”

“Never fear,” Aunt Hortense said, hugging Leonora with surprising heartiness. “I will do as you wish. You just make sure that young man of yours is able to escape this serpent's nest unscathed.”

Since Leonora had told her as little as possible about their true reasons for leaving, she could only imagine that Hortense had supplied her own story to go with the dramatic exit.

Once that was settled, she was free to pack her own bags, and to instruct Freddy's valet to pack for him as well. At exactly nine o'clock Freddy's curricle would be waiting for them at the gates to South Haven. And Lady Melisande had promised Leonora that she would see to it that her husband's perimeter guards were otherwise occupied at that time.

All that was left was for Leonora to get Freddy out of the barn, where Sir Gerard and the others had assembled to watch Freddy pummel some poor soul into dust.

She sent up a silent prayer that they'd be able to escape unscathed.

*   *   *

When the ladies left the men to their port after dinner that evening, Freddy felt a frisson of excitement in the air. And as soon as the men began walking through the French doors toward the barn, he guessed why.

“Tonight?” he asked his cousin as the other man walked with surprising languor toward the outbuilding. “You might have told me.”

“If I'd given you the exact time, old man,” Sir Gerard said with a knowing grin, “then you would have known when to make your escape.”

“Are you accusing me of reneging on a promise?” Freddy demanded, his temper rising. “I said I would do as you asked, and there's an end to it.”

“No need to get your back up, cousin,” Sir Gerard said with a chuckle. “You'll have your chance in the ring soon enough.”

By this time they'd reached the inside of the barn, which was lit up with torches along every wall. It was a large open space, which had not seen a horse or cow in a great many years if Freddy knew anything about it. A ring had been marked off with a rope attached to stakes every few feet. The other members of the club had already begun to gather around the circular enclosure and Freddy found himself being propelled to one side of the ring, while Lord Darleigh was on the other side.

“Strip to the waist,” Sir Gerard said sharply, when he and Freddy got to his designated side. “I hope you've recovered enough from your match with Lord Payne to do yourself justice tonight. I should hate to see a relation of mine bested without much of a fight.”

Unwinding his cravat and unbuttoning his waistcoat, Freddy chose not to point out that if his cousin was really worried about the family honor he'd dispense with this nonsense altogether and call the whole thing off. But sensing that Gerard would not find such a tirade amusing, he shrugged out of his coat, and waistcoat, then began untucking the voluminous tails of his shirt from his breeches.

When he was finally naked to the waist, the barn was loud with the sound of men chattering. And if Freddy were not mistaken, there were more men here than guests at his cousin's house. Perhaps they'd advertised the event at the local pub, he thought, puzzled. Noting the quality of the gathering's attire, he thought it more likely that his cousin had sent word to London. If that were the case, it would mean that Gerard had been planning this since long before they left London. And a jolt of anger ran through him at the thought of being used like that.

He noticed Lord Colburn, a club member, was surreptitiously moving through the crowd with a large velvet bag, which the audience members were filling with pound notes.

Suddenly, Freddy knew exactly where his cousin's fortune came from.

“I think you'll do,” Gerard said from beside him, where to Freddy's surprise his cousin began to remove his own cravat.

“What are you doing?” he demanded. If he was supposed to fight his cousin then was it to be a fight to the death? Or perhaps there was to be some sort of initiation. Where he would find himself being beaten at the hands of each member of the club.

That supposition seemed more likely when he saw that Lord Darleigh and Lord Payne were also removing their clothing above the waist.

“It's an initiation of sorts, cousin,” Gerard said with a barely disguised grin. “We do this with gentlemen who show a particular affinity for leadership. And you, being so commanding, cousin, will be the perfect candidate for a role as one of my lieutenants. If, that is, you survive your initiation.”

Glaring at his cousin, Freddy turned to watch as Lord Payne, his body still bearing the bruises from their bout earlier in the week, stretched his arms across the ring. Lord Darleigh, on the other hand, looked nervous. And as he shrugged out of his coat, Freddy saw that the other man was favoring his left arm, as if he'd suffered some injury to it earlier in the week.

Before he could protest again, Gerard walked into the center of the ring, his muscled torso glistening in the torchlight. “Gentlemen,” he said in a loud voice, and immediately the chatter ceased. “Gentlemen, you are here tonight to witness the initiation into the Lords of Anarchy of a new member. A man who has long been known amongst the
ton
for his legendary prowess in the bedroom, at the reins, and on the dueling field. My cousin Lord Frederick Lisle might hail from one of the most respected families in England, but he has more than enough black-sheep credentials to make him a valuable member of our illustrious company.”

Freddy felt the eyes of the room upon him as his cousin spoke, sick that Gerard's jealousy of him had grown to such heights that he would publicly denigrate his own family.

“To prove himself worthy of membership in the Lords of Anarchy,” Gerard continued, “my cousin will have to defeat not only Lord Payne, but also myself and Lord Darleigh. Only when he has overcome all three of us at once will my cousin be welcomed into the fold as a Lord of Anarchy.”

All three of them? Gerard was mad, Freddy thought as he watched the other men move toward the center of the ring. He flexed his shoulders in an unconscious preparation for the fight, though he could not imagine it would do any good. Still, he'd need to be ready if he was going to survive this madness, he thought.

Moving onto the balls of his feet, he danced around a little. He was moving into the center of the ring toward the others when a cry sounded from the edges of the crowd. “Fire!”

“Fire!” another shouted. And soon the whole barn was filled with the scent of smoke and the bellows of alarm as a rush of men hurried to escape from the enclosure.

 

Twenty-three

Leonora let Freddy's groom give her a hand up into the curricle as they waited in the shadows beside the fence of Gerard's paddock. She could hear the cry of fire rippling through the crowd inside the barn and she strained her eyes to see if Chester, Freddy's valet, had been able to get to his master yet. Then she saw a flash of gold in the firelight and was relieved to see Hanson followed by a shirtless Freddy running at full speed toward them.

In one swift leap he was in the vehicle and his valet was headed for where the coach and four had been hidden.

They were almost to the gates leading out of the estate when a shout went up behind them and Leonora looked back to see that Sir Gerard had spotted them. But as he was on foot, he was impotent to do anything to stop them. Especially since his stables had been evacuated because of the fire alarm.

“Spring 'em, Smitty,” Freddy barked to his groom as they took off into the night and raced as fast as the curricle would take them.

Leonora dared not speak, but appreciated the warmth of Freddy's bare arm around her shoulders.

“How did you ever manage this?” he asked when they were finally beyond the periphery of his cousin's estate. Leonora gave him the cloak she'd brought for him which Freddy took gratefully, before asking again. “How, Leonora?”

Shaking her head, she said, “I'm not even sure how I did it. Lady Melisande told me when the ladies left the gentlemen to their port what her husband was planning tonight. And I knew that there was no way we could remain in that house without further risking our necks. So, I told Aunt Hortense to prepare herself to go to her friend's house in the next county—that is where your coach and four are headed, by the way. Along with your valet and my maid.”

“All right,” he said with a grin. “I can last a few days without Chester, I think.”

“Then I spoke to Smith about driving the curricle and had him ready it for a long journey. Fortunately your horses were rested from our journey out here so they were ready for another one. The last thing was to put a torch to one of the hay bales. It managed to make enough of a to-do that panic set in among the men in the barn and voil
à
!”

She felt him staring at her in the darkness, and Leonora found herself in the unusual position of feeling bashful.

“You are an amazing woman, Leonora Craven,” he said finally, kissing the top of her head. “I don't think we'd have made it out of that house alive if you hadn't arranged this escape for us.”

“I feel sure you would have come up with something,” she said with a slight shrug. “If you weren't faced with having to fight for membership in a club you don't even want to be a member of.”

“Yes,” he said with a laugh. “There's that. Thank goodness you spared me from that fate.”

“Anytime, sir,” she said with a giggle.

“Leonora?” he asked after a few minutes had passed.

“Yes?” she asked, snuggling up to him beneath the cloak.

“Where are we going?”

“We can't go to London because if we were seen there in this condition it would cause the scandal of the season,” she said with a sigh. “So, I remembered that your friend the Earl of Mainwaring has a house not far from here.”

“He does,” Freddy responded, sounding surprised. In the darkness she couldn't see his expression but she thought perhaps he was puzzled.

“It was your valet's suggestion,” she explained a little defensively. “He said you'd been there before and that he thought the earl wouldn't mind. I hope that's all right?”

She heard him laugh softly before he pulled her close. “It's perfectly fine, my dear. I just hadn't realized before that your talents extended to large-scale escapes and capers.”

“Just because I am a poet doesn't mean my mind is always in the ether communing with the muses,” she replied with a laugh. “I am rather a managing sort of female. As you will recall from the last time we were betrothed.”

There was a pause and, for a moment, Leonora could only hear the sounds of the road—the jingle of the horses' tack, the wheels on the road, and the wind whipping through the trees.

“I should like to speak about that,” Freddy said into the darkness. “Soon. Not tonight. I think I should very much like to be fully dressed for that discussion.”

She could hear the smile in his voice and knew that whatever the discussion entailed, it would not be a difficult one. At least on his side. She had some things to discuss that would perhaps make it difficult for Freddy to forgive her. For now, however, she was just glad they were alive.

“I can wait,” she said softly, leaning up to kiss his cheek.

When he turned his head to kiss her properly, she did not protest.

*   *   *

They reached Mainwaring's little manor house a few hours later. By that time the wind had followed them from South Haven and turned into a rainstorm, and when Freddy approached the front entrance it was miserable out.

Fortunately the butler recalled Freddy from a previous visit and welcomed their ragtag party inside with no questions asked.

He gave orders that his curricle was to be hidden in the stables and that in the event someone should call looking for them, they had not been seen.

Only when he was sure the horses and the servants had been seen to and were comfortably situated did Freddy allow himself to relax. He'd learned from his father that servants—both equine and human—were to be treated fairly and with consideration and dignity. And theirs had proved themselves tonight to be the most loyal sorts.

Though he suspected Leonora might have already fallen asleep, when he'd finished looking in on the horses, he slipped silently into her bedchamber. Quietly, he undressed and climbed into bed beside her.

“Did you see to the servants?” she asked in a sleepy voice as he slipped his arms around her.

He might have known she would guess his task. “Yes,” he said against her hair. “All right and tight. We can sleep here for several hours then set out tomorrow in Mainwaring's carriage.”

“You're lucky to have a friend like that,” she said quietly.