“She was beautiful, wasn’t she,” said a voice from behind that spun her around to face James Ellery at her elbow.
He was wearing a single-breasted black tailcoat, white shirt and neckcloth, and buff-colored pantaloons with white silk stockings. There was no denying that the man was handsome, and there was also no denying that he wanted her. She had always heard it in the seductive purr of his voice, and seen it in the provocative tremor in his hooded eyes. But her heart, she was finally beginning to admit, lay elsewhere—even though it was hopeless. If she hadn’t thought so before, she did now, after viewing that portrait.
“Y-yes,” she faltered, “quite so.”
“No artist could capture her magnificence on canvas. She was so much more than this inept attempt proposes.”
“How long were they married, before…?”
“Three years,” said the steward. “Three short, all-too-fleeting years.”
“They were well suited to each other,” she observed, scrutinizing the portrait once more. They were both tall. Their bodies must have fitted perfectly together. Strange, but she couldn’t remember how hers fit by comparison; only the icy-hot blades of sensation his closeness had awakened in her. He had felt it, too. There had been physical evidence of that, and she thrilled afresh remembering the trembling tightness in the long, lean length of him crushing her close.
“Are you all right, my dear?” Ellery said, taking hold of her arm. “You look awfully strained of a sudden.”
“No, no, I’m fine,” she lied, struggling for composure. “I may have taken a bit of a chill in all that damp wind today,” she said. “It’s nothing… really.”
“May I ask you a personal question, Demelza?” he inquired. He still hadn’t let go of her arm.
“You may ‘ask’,” she replied, implying that she might not answer.
“How is it that you haven’t been taken, such a lovely young lady of quality like yourself? You must have had suitors.”
Yes, she’d had suitors, until her father brought an end to her budding social life among the
ton’s
elite. There had been no one in particular, however. She hadn’t been offered for; there hadn’t been time. All the magic of London in Season had come to a crashing halt with her father’s suicide. She became an outcast, and all of her prospects fled. How fickle were the aristocracy, and how cruel. But she wouldn’t tell him any of that. She wouldn’t confide her shame in the likes of James Ellery. It was he who would confide in her. She was determined.
“Of course I had suitors,” she said haughtily. “It is just that they didn’t suit
me
.”
“Do you think I would ever suit you, my dear?” he murmured, drawing closer.
She strained against him. He smelled of the familiar mint scented shaving paste, laced now with stale wine—not of musk and sweat and raw maleness. His scent repulsed her, and she put him from her.
“Remember yourself, Mr. Ellery,” she snapped.
“Forgive me, Demelza. I’m sorry. It’s too soon.”
“It’s too
late
,” she corrected him. “I do not think of you in that way, sir, but rather as a kindly friend… one whom I thought I could trust. I seem to have been mistaken.”
“He’s gotten to you, hasn’t he?” he said, his voice astringent. “He has a talent for attracting women, I daresay, and he may give you a tumble, but that’s all it will amount to. That’s Drake; I know him. He never takes his dalliances seriously, well, almost never. There was Eva after all. But that was a mistake he shan’t repeat—too painful. No, he shan’t tread that path again, I promise you. So, you see, it’s quite hopeless, my dear, unless, of course, a dalliance is all you’re after?”
She raised her hand to strike him, but he caught her wrist mid-swing and pulled her closer, his cold eyes holding her relentlessly.
“You don’t want to do that,” he said close in her face. “It would be a grave mistake.”
“Are you threatening me, sir?” she shrilled. His breath was fetid with alcohol, and she turned her head aside.
“No, Demelza, I’m trying to warn you away from a dangerous flirtation, because I care for you. I don’t want to see you hurt. You don’t know Drake Hannaford. I do. If I am to be the ‘kindly friend’ you want me to be, I would be remiss if I didn’t open your eyes to a situation that would only bring you heartache and pain. I should think you’d have had enough of that.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. Are you foxed, sir? Let me go, you’re hurting me!”
“Forgive me,” he murmured. Releasing her wrist, he took a step back from her. “I wouldn’t hurt you for the world, Demelza. You’re quite right, it must be the wine… I simply cannot drink wine—never could. Can you ever forgive my clumsy attempt to protect you? That’s all I meant to do, and I’ve bungled it badly.”
“I shan’t be joining you for dinner,” she said steadily. “I shall have Zoe fetch a tray to my apartments. I shall forgive your boldness this time, since it’s plain that the wine addresses me, but I shouldn’t want it repeated. I hope I’ve made myself plain?”
“Quite,” he said dejectedly.
“Good. Hereafter when you address me, kindly do so by my sir name, I do not care whether you preface it with ‘Miss’, or ‘Lady’. Now then, if you will excuse me, sir, I must bid you good night.”
Nine
Drake didn’t take Griggs along on the inspection tour because he needed a valet. He’d gotten quite used to fending for himself after five grueling years in the army. What he wanted was to distance the valet from James Ellery in order to put him at ease during the interrogation. He needed to know where Griggs’s loyalties lay, elsewise the steward could have him, and they could both go to the devil.
After two days touring his properties, he had come to the stark realization that what he and the auditors had uncovered in the cleverly altered ledgers was worse than they’d feared. Ellery had extorted thousands of pounds. The figures were astronomical. Entries had been recorded for repairs that had never been made—storm damage that had never occurred—monies for alterations that weren’t even warranted had been debited from the accounts. Salaries were being paid to non-existent employees, and servants who had long since been let go in another of his residences as well.
He hadn’t brought the actual ledgers. He had made a copy of the most suspicious entries so as not to alert the steward. Now, he had uncovered extortions that weren’t even on his list. His stomach roiled with rage in check, and the inspection was only over by half.
They were stopping at the Peregrine Inn on the fringes of his southernmost holdings that bordered Goonhilly Downs. It would take at least two more days to circle around and complete the tour with inspection of the northern vineyards near Porthallow before returning to St. Kevern, and Drake’s Lair. There were other crofts farther west, but they would have to wait. He had all the proof he needed, and he wasn’t comfortable leaving Demelza alone with Ellery any longer than was necessary.
That was the other reason he’d left Drake’s Lair, to get in touch with his feelings concerning a certain little toffee-haired, doe-eyed witch, who had definitely cast a spell over him. That question had been resolved as well. There had been ample opportunity for him to slake his urges since they’d arrived at the Peregrine. The comely serving wenches had tripped over each other in order to wait on him, and their seductive glances were too blatant to be missed. He could have had any one of them in his bed with a crook of his finger, and a month ago he would have, but that was before he met Demelza Ahern. Somehow the prospect of doing so now stabbed him with remorse, as though he’d been unfaithful—unfaithful to what? That wasn’t even sane, considering that she was already spoken for.
That’s when he knew.
It was a small inn, but it did boast several well-appointed suites of adjoining rooms for wayfaring gentlemen who traveled with their valets. Drake had taken one of these. He had just stepped from his bath, which had been set up in Griggs’s room, and the valet had helped him into his dressing gown. Now was as good a time as any, and he invited Griggs into his chamber and asked him to sit.
“Griggs, I didn’t bring you with me just to draw my bath and dress me,” he said, as the valet took his seat on the edge of a Chippendale chair across from the chaise lounge he occupied. “I needed to talk to you about conditions at Drake’s Lair, and I needed to do it privately.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“You served Mr. Ellery for five years before I returned.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“I want you to tell me in your own words how that came about. Don’t be afraid, this isn’t an inquisition… well, in a way, I suppose it is, but let me qualify that you have nothing to fear. I simply need to know the truth of the matter.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Good. Then please commence.”
“After you went off, my lord, Mr. Ellery began to cut back on the staff,” Griggs began. “There wasn’t a necessity for him to retain your valet with you gone off to war, and the Lord alone knowing when—
or if—
you’d be returning; his words, my lord, not mine. I was given the option of being let go with the rest, or remaining to serve him in the same capacity that I had served you in the past. I chose to stay—not for the money, my lord. I’m hardly destitute thanks to your generosity over the years, and he did offer me references. I stayed because I knew you’d be returning, and I couldn’t very well serve you when you did were I employed elsewhere. I’ve been your valet since your poor dead father assigned me to the task when you were no more than a lad in breeches.”
“I was hoping you would say something along those lines, Griggs,” Drake said on a sigh, “and I thank you for your loyalty.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“It’s common knowledge that the servants in a house know just as much as their employers in regard to the goings on above and below stairs—sometimes even more—and that certain… indiscretions could not be carried out without them. While you served Mr. Ellery, did you notice any unusual goings on?”
“How do you mean, my lord?”
“Were you privy to any house business, or any personal business concerning Mr. Ellery—anything untoward?”
“If I were, I would have come to you with it directly, the moment you returned, my lord.”
“Let me be more specific,” said Drake. “Did Mr. Ellery ever bring women to Drakes Lair to the purpose of pleasure?”
“No, my lord.”
“You’re certain?”
“Our rooms adjoined, my lord, just as yours and mine do now. I would surely have known. He did spend much time abroad, however, and on those occasions, when I accompanied him, which was not always the case, he was in the habit of entertaining the ladies, and the Cyprians as well quite frequently.”
“And… Lady Demelza Ahern?”
“No, my lord, not to my knowledge, though he is rather energetically in pursuance of her.”
“Ummmm,” Drake hummed, rubbing a thumb over his clean-shaven chin. “Can you think of any reason why Mr. Ellery should be in need of blunt—a good deal of blunt?”
“He does frequent the gambling hells rather regularly, my lord, and I happen to know that he isn’t particularly lucky. He hardly makes an effort to hide his dismals when he loses. He has a nasty temper.”
“How well I know,” Drake returned. “Has he ever treated you badly?”
“On occasion, my lord, his behavior has been rather affrontive, yes, but usually only when he’s been tipping. Wine in particular affects him adversely, and he’s been imbibing rather frequently of late.”
“I see,” said Drake. “I’m going to confide in you, Griggs. I needn’t emphasize that what I’m about to tell you must remain between ourselves, that’s why I’ve dragged you way out here in the provinces to have it told.”
“Certainly, my lord, that goes without question.”
“Good, because what I have uncovered, aside from being scandalous, could very well be dangerous, to ourselves… and others.”
“Yes, my lord?”
“The main purpose of this inspection trip was to verify certain repairs and renovations that, according to the ledgers, have been made on my crofts during my absence. Thus far, I have found evidence no such restorations having been made, though monies have been deducted from my accounts to pay for them. This came to my attention because of the roof repair on the Terrill farm. Aside from the fact that every available hand was needed to finish that roof before the flaw, I wanted a firsthand look at it, since my ledger shows that it had been repaired just six months ago, and at a staggering sum. I wanted to see what sort of workmanship falls to pieces in just six months. That roof hadn’t been touched in years, Griggs.”
“Mr. Ellery has been embezzling, my lord?” the valet breathed, clearly aghast. His face had gone as gray as his hair, and his mouth had sagged open as though his jaw had become disengaged.
“It certainly looks that way,” said Drake. “Considering what I’ve found at all the other crofts we’ve visited thus far, I can venture to say that it is a dead certainty.”
“What will you do, my lord?”
“I don’t know, Griggs, I honestly don’t,” he replied. “Jim Ellery has been my closest friend since we were at school together, you know that. We were like brothers. I left him in charge here. I would never have done that if I didn’t think I could trust him. If he had come to me… oh, I know I was unreachable toward the end, but I am come home now, and he’s had ample opportunity to make a clean breast of things. I could have forgiven him if he had. He has not. He’s evidently desperate. No doubt he’s got vowels out all over the coast.”
“Men have come to Drake’s Lair, my lord, looking to be paid. ’Tis a wonder that he hasn’t rolled you up.”
“It’s hardly come to that, old boy, but it’s got to stop before he does. The question is how? I don’t want to involve Bow Street. Right now we have a houseguest. I don’t know how involved she is with Jim. She could even be in on it, for all I know. I am not fond of sending young gels to prison, and I’m not going to pretend that it won’t pain me sending Jim off to Newgate, either.”
“Surely, you cannot keep him on, my lord?”
“I don’t want a scandal,” Drake said wearily. “I don’t want him dragged off in chains. I’m going to have to confront him, but not yet—not until I’ve completed the tour and informed Bradshaw and Mills of my findings. I’ve contracted to purchase Lady Ahern’s land. She should have signed the contract by the time we return. I’ve committed myself to rebuilding the cottage and giving her first option to occupy as my tenant. That must be done post haste. Once she’s out of the house, I will deal with Mr. Ellery.”