James’s thoughts returned to his own predicament, and he considered Brent’s argument in favor of Bella Sinclair.
Bella could take the matter to court. Any barrister worth his salt understood that trying a case before a jury could be as unpredictable as the gaming tables. Wyndmoor Manor was in the jurisdiction of Hertfordshire, and as such any trial would be held here, far from the Old Bailey and London where James had practiced. He was familiar with every judge at the Old Bailey, their procedural likes and dislikes. But in Hertfordshire, he was an outsider, and a sympathetic judge or jury could find in the lady’s favor.
“You said she was a sharp-tongued widow. Is she an eyesore?” Anthony asked.
“No,” James said. “She’s stunning, a true beauty.”
There was an awkward silence.
“You’ve never had a problem with the ladies in the past,” Anthony said.
“Don’t listen to him,” Brent said. “You may anger the lady if you treat her like a common affair.”
Anthony’s voice held a note of impatience. “Then use your newfound influence as duke. What judge or jury in these godforsaken hinterlands would find against a duke? Bribe the judge if you have to. I doubt it would be difficult. A few hunting outings here at Wyndmoor ought to do it.”
“Is that how you practice?” Brent inquired of Anthony. “Not everyone can be bribed or coerced.” Brent looked to James. “Your solution may be as simple as reimbursing her for the property.”
“I already offered to pay her should Sir Redmond Reeves be found and all the money spent. She refused,” James said.
“Then you must find another way,” Brent said.
“There is something else. I suspect Mrs. Sinclair is hiding a secret, something involving her past,” James said.
“Use it to your advantage,” Anthony said.
“I intend to. Your investigator, the one that Jack had used in the past to aid Evelyn, do you still use him?” Jack asked Anthony.
Anthony’s face brightened at the suggestion. “He’s a clever Armenian by the name of Armen Papazian; he’s never failed me in the past.”
Jack knew Anthony used the investigator to unearth the secret liaisons of the wives of his clients. Anthony could be ruthless in the courtroom, and he had no qualms about bringing in a string of male lovers to attest to a wife’s adultery.
“It’s not just the woman I want him to look into. I need to track down Sir Redmond Reeves as well. How fast can your investigator get here?” James asked.
“I’ll send for him immediately,” Anthony said. “If there’s something in your widow’s past that you can use, he’ll find it.”
Chapter 6
“I do hope you’ll like your positions at Wyndmoor Manor.” Bella stood in the kitchen, addressing the new servants she had hired. A parlor maid, a head gardener, and a new cook stood obediently in a row, hands folded before them.
“I look forward to your braised ham and pastries,” Bella said to the plump, middle-aged cook.
Mrs. O’Brien bobbed a curtsy. “Thank you, Mrs. Sinclair.”
As Bella left the new servants to settle in, she breathed a sigh of relief. Although St. Albans was close to Wyndmoor Manor, it had been challenging to find a competent cook willing to apply for the position. Bella had learned that Sir Reeves had been demanding with his palate, and during his short duration as master of the place, he had gone through no less than three cooks.
Still, Bella felt elated to complete the task. During her marriage, she had never been permitted to hire a single servant. Other than Harriet, Roger had insisted upon complete dominion over the staff and they had been loyal only to him. Any disobedience by his young, headstrong wife had immediately been reported to her husband. Bella had quickly learned to be circumspect.
As she made her way from the kitchen, she decided upon a walk and some fresh air. It was late afternoon, her favorite part of the day to write. Thoughts of her current political piece on social reform and the recent Cotton Factories Regulation Act ran through her mind. This is what she had desired, freedom to pen her articles in the hopes of one day getting published.
Stopping to retrieve her notebook and a pencil, she was thankful there was no sign of the duke or his staff. She reached the vestibule when the sounds of male laughter brought her to an abrupt stop.
She recognized the rich timbre of Blackwood’s voice coming from the library.
Leave him to his business,
she thought, yet an overwhelming curiosity had her walking down the hallway toward the library. Wyndmoor Manor was
her
home.
Why shouldn’t she know who was present?
Before she could knock, the library door opened, and Blackwood stepped out. He was followed by two well-dressed men.
A gleam of interest lit his cobalt eyes when he spotted her. “Mrs. Sinclair. You are just the lady I was speaking of.”
Bella stiffened, alarmed to have been the topic of conversation among the duke and the two strange men.
“May I introduce my good friends and fellow legal colleagues, Mr. Anthony Stevens and Mr. Brent Stone,” Blackwood said.
The fair-haired man stepped forward first and bowed. “I’m Mr. Stone, and it is a pleasure to meet you.”
Bella was momentarily speechless as she gazed into a pair of crystal-blue eyes in a startlingly handsome face. Brent Stone’s high cheekbones and chiseled nose were so symmetrical, so perfect, it was as if he were a flesh-and-blood model for one of Michelangelo’s marble carvings.
Blackwood cleared his throat and drew her attention. His eyes were narrowed, his lips a thin line, and she wondered why he suddenly appeared annoyed.
The tallest of the three men spoke up. “The duke told us about you, Mrs. Sinclair, but I didn’t quite believe him until now.”
She looked up at Anthony Stevens, and an involuntary tremor passed down her spine. He was a large, broad-shouldered man, with bold features and shortly cropped dark hair, but it wasn’t his size that intimidated her, rather the hard look in his pitch-black eyes that sent a warning. She suppressed the urge to cross herself.
For a brief instant, she wondered if Anthony had a wife or a lover and if those black eyes bore the same look as Roger’s had when he ill-treated her, but then she mentally shook herself. Roger had appeared charming and kind to outsiders; this man gave the appearance of a scorpion with his tail raised ready to strike.
He’s baiting me, wanting me to cower beneath his glare,
Bella thought.
Little does he know, I refuse to be intimidated by a man. My years with Roger are over.
She tilted her head to the side and smiled. “I can only imagine what His Grace has told you about my presence here. It seems I am in need of a barrister myself. Perhaps you could recommend one for me, Mr. Stevens.”
There was an awkward silence; then Anthony Stevens released a sharp bark of laughter. “By God, she does have spirit, Devlin! We best be on our way before one of us offers her our own legal services.”
They made their way to the vestibule, and Coates retrieved their coats and hats.
“We are staying at the Twin Rams should you need us, James,” Brent Stone said.
Blackwood smiled. “I would offer you both lodgings here—”
“That would be improper,” Brent said.
“Yes, I suppose. Mrs. Sinclair may feel obligated to share a residence with one bachelor, but to add two more would be enough to send any lady into hysterics,” Blackwood said dryly.
“There’s no need to be rude,” Brent said, bowing politely to Bella. “It was a pleasure, Mrs. Sinclair. We are expecting our remaining colleague and his wife to arrive in a few days. I think you would get along nicely with her.”
Bella smiled up at the handsome barrister and found herself saying, “I look forward to meeting her, Mr. Stone.”
The pair departed and she was left alone with Blackwood.
“I’m surprised,” he said after he closed the door and turned to her, “that you have charmed them.”
“Are you?”
“Anthony Stevens doesn’t usually find females clever. And most women find him ... how shall I phrase it ... quite frightful.”
She looked at him with mock innocence. “Indeed. I did not find him frightful at all.”
“And as for Brent Stone, he may very well be your new champion.”
“He seems an agreeable gentleman.”
His gaze pierced the distance between them. “You find Mr. Stone attractive?”
“Whatever makes you believe that?” she asked.
He shrugged. “A guess is all. Where were you headed, by the way?”
“I was going for a walk.”
“Splendid. There are a few matters I’d like to discuss with you. May I join you?”
She hesitated. She did not want to spend more time with him than necessary, yet if they were to resolve matters between them they needed to speak. She placed her notebook and pencil on a pedestal table beside a vase of fresh flowers and faced him. “That would be fine.”
He opened the door. “Do you wish to fetch your cloak?”
“There’s no need. The weather is pleasant enough.”
He grinned, held the door wide, and stepped aside.
Her heart skipped a beat. His smile softened his chiseled features, and she found herself stealing glances at his profile beneath lowered lashes.
They descended the front steps and strolled past the fountain. The flagstone path led to the formal gardens with its box hedges, blooming azaleas, and floral borders. Spring had arrived, and the sky was a brilliant blue with a few puffs of cloud. Bella raised her face, and the afternoon sun warmed her cheeks. A hawk soared above, precise and mindless, a part of things. How she envied its blissful freedom.
“Tell me how you first came to see Wyndmoor Manor,” he asked.
“There’s not much to tell, Your Grace. I was passing through St. Albans when I spotted the place. We stopped at the Twin Rams, and when I inquired I learned the property was for sale.”
“Must we be so formal? Please call me James. No matter the circumstances, we are living together. Besides, the title is new to me.”
He insisted she call him James, but use of his Christian name was horribly improper despite the fact that they were sharing a residence. She didn’t want to think of him as James. It was one step closer to thinking of him as a man rather than an aristocrat who desired to drive her out of her new home.
At her hesitation, he said, “It is not much to ask, and if we are in public, then you may certainly address me by my title.”
She could hardly refuse without sounding churlish or intimidated, and she didn’t want to appear either. “Only when we are in private then.”
They headed away from the house and the formal gardens and crossed an open grassy field dotted with wildflowers of every color of the rainbow. The air was heady with the fragrant scent of their perfume. Succumbing to a fanciful impulse, she stopped and picked a handful of the delicate-looking blooms.
They walked for some time before stepping onto a tree-lined path with sun-shot leaves that arched overhead. It was a warm May afternoon and the foliage provided refreshing shade. Blackwood knew where he was headed and soon the sounds of a nearby brook could be heard above the chirping birds.
They cleared the trees and she realized it was not a brook but a stream with a small waterfall. She gasped as a pair of swans floated past, their pristine white feathers and curved necks as graceful as ballet dancers. The lovely vista beyond the stream was a picture of treetops and rolling hills that had enthralled her the first time she had laid eyes on the land.
When Bella had offered to buy the property from Sir Reeves, she had pictured herself venturing out into the closest town of St. Albans. Before her marriage, she had enjoyed strolling through Plymouth’s shopping district and discreetly observing people. She had scribbled notes about their mannerisms and speech and had poured every detail into her writing.
Her father had encouraged her ambitions. He had loved books of all kinds, especially those of history and politics, and her childhood home had been cluttered with newspaper clippings and books on foreign affairs and domestic social reform. Over the years she grew to find the topic of social reform fascinating. The strife of the poverty-stricken and laborers in London had caught her interest. She’d researched the child labor laws and the increase in crime from the destitute and oftentimes injured soldiers that had returned from Waterloo, and she had started writing her own articles.
Then one day Roger Sinclair had visited her father and expressed interest in Bella. He had been respectful and reserved, and when Bella had mentioned her own ambitions to submit her work to the London newspapers in hopes of getting published, Roger had nodded with feigned enthusiasm. It was her first taste of his remarkable talent for deception.
Soon after her marriage, Roger had found her addressing an envelope to
The London Gazette.
He had ripped her work out of her hands and torn it into pieces. “No wife of mine will ever engage in such unacceptable activities,” Roger had spat. Writing and politics, he insisted, were for men. When Bella had argued, Roger had immediately threatened, “Harriet is old and slow. Servants should be useful. I’ve a mind to cut her without a reference.”
Roger had known quite well that at Harriet’s age she would never find new employment and would starve, and Bella would do anything to protect her. With no more than a curt slash of his hand, Roger had destroyed her aspirations as a writer. He had been an adept liar, and he had woven tales of his wife’s “fragile mental state” until people eyed her warily on the seldom occasions she had been seen. Some had even offered Roger their admiration for not committing his mad wife to an asylum.
She was now a widow and the owner of Wyndmoor Manor. She could pen political articles or even short love stories that struck her fancy and, under the guise of a pseudonym, send them to any London newspaper or publisher of her choosing. The people of Hertfordshire had no knowledge of her past—a fact that added to Wyndmoor’s charm—and she was free to join a poetry group, a book discussion group, or the church choir, and even attend the occasional afternoon tea or country fair.
After seven tumultuous years bound to a cruel spouse, she could peacefully spend the rest of her life here, and it had seemed as if fate had finally smiled upon her.
Or so she had thought.
She glanced at the man beside her. With his compelling blue eyes, his firm features, and the confident set of his shoulders, he exuded masculinity and command.
He shed his jacket and spread it out on the grassy bank. “Shall we?”
Gathering her skirts, she sat and placed the wildflowers on her lap. He sat beside her, stretching his long legs out before him.
“I’ve told you about my reasons for wanting Wyndmoor Manor, but I am uncertain as to yours. Why do you insist on keeping it?” he asked.
“Because it’s mine,” she said.
Because no man will ever dictate my desires again.
His brow furrowed. “You do realize the longer you stay here with me, the more damage to your reputation.”
“I’m a widow, remember?” she retorted.
“No matter. We cannot reside together indefinitely.”
He picked up a flat stone by the bank and turned it around his fingers. Then in one sweeping motion, he threw it toward the lake and watched as it skipped across the water’s surface like a jumping bean before finally sinking with a soft splash.
“Were you serous about seeking legal advice?” he asked.
She raised her chin a notch. “Yes. I plan on hiring my own barrister.”