Lady Catherine's Secret: A Secrets and Seduction book (32 page)

“Tempt the Fates?” Calliope repeated, clearly thinking about the white-robed incarnations of destiny from Greek mythology. The stories must have been drummed into her since childhood, with a professor for a father.

Taking her cue, Elizabeth chimed in, “Yes, I heard the same thing. You want to get your marriage off on the right foot, don’t you?” She reached across to where Calliope was sitting in the seat opposite her and patted her hand. “We’ll be there shortly. You won’t have long to wait.”

This immediately pulled Calliope out of her sulk. With unshed tears shining in her eyes, she said, “I certainly wouldn’t want to tempt the Fates. They can become quite angry. What would I do without the two of you to guide me?” She gave them a smile. “I’m so lucky to have friends like you.”

“This really is quite eye-opening,” Catherine whispered into Elizabeth’s ear as Calliope busied herself looking for a handkerchief in her reticule. “And here I thought you were the queen of drama. I believe you just lost your crown.” The corners of her eyes crinkled as she tried to contain her laughter.

“Shush!” scolded Elizabeth, grinning in reply.

37 - Spying on Huntley

The damp, late-winter London morning was slowly beginning to warm up, but not quickly enough for Stansbury. The cold made its way deep into his bones, causing his left knee to ache. He ignored it as best he could and focused his energies on making some sense of this new development.

Huntley’s unexpected excursion was proving to be quite interesting. Stansbury had been watching him for the past couple of weeks and had witnessed him walking his dogs and visiting Kensington House on occasion. Probably ingratiating himself with Catherine’s family. Huntley had no right to be there.
The damned upstart.

Initially, Stansbury had re-engaged the men he’d hired to kidnap Huntley and search his town house. They owed him for bungling that job, so he tasked them with following the man. Unfortunately, they’d become annoyingly insistent in their demands for money. Why couldn’t they see the bigger picture? He’d be able to pay them handsomely once he was married to the Kensington girl, but they were too impatient. They insisted upon being paid immediately, the shortsighted fools. When he’d ultimately had to let them go, he’d taken over the job of following Huntley. It was cold, tiring work, spending so much time chasing Huntley about town. And up until now, he’d discovered nothing he could use.

But today, when Huntley left his house early in the morning, he’d been accompanied by two other gentlemen Stansbury didn’t recognize. One was a burly-looking sort. Not the type of man you’d want to cross. Stansbury watched as the burly fellow shoved the third man into a waiting carriage.

The third man looked to be about the same age as Huntley. And although they clearly weren’t friends, the man didn’t appear to want to leave Huntley’s town house and enter the carriage. This was all rather odd, and anything that was odd was interesting.

Stansbury followed them, and was even more surprised when they arrived at the train station. There, they were joined by the Kensington family, the Wilmot family, and another girl whom Stansbury didn’t recognize. Lord Spencer joined Huntley’s party and the men stood a small distance away from the rest of the group. It appeared that although everyone knew the unhappy man, nobody liked him. It was as though they were all guarding him.

Curious
.

When Lord Spencer’s servant set off toward the ticket window, Stansbury followed him and eavesdropped to learn their destination. He rushed through purchasing a ticket and scurried on board the train for Oxford moments before it pulled away from the station.

He checked his money, making sure he would have enough for a return trip.

Blast that Huntley.

There was barely enough to buy a meat pie for dinner if he wanted to have enough coin to purchase a return ticket. His stomach rumbled.

He closed his eyes and leaned his head against the side of the train, resting in the warmth of the passenger car. He stretched out his left leg, easing the ache in his knee and contemplating Huntley.

All Stansbury’s problems had become much worse in the past few months. It was as though Huntley was bent upon bringing him down. Had he found out Stansbury’s involvement in stealing his shipping contacts? It had been an inspired plan to undercut Huntley’s deals before he had a chance to finalize them. But Huntley had found out. Did his vengeance know no bounds? The man was the root cause of his financial ruin. If he hadn’t tricked Stansbury into those bad deals, everything would be different. Huntley was a vengeful man. And it wasn’t as though Stansbury had done any real harm.

The train rousted Stansbury from his reverie when it stopped with a jolt at the platform in Oxford. Through the window, he could see Huntley’s party disembark from the train, so he rushed out to the platform, hiding behind other passengers who were alighting as well.

An older man met them at the train station and embraced the girl. Perhaps he was her father. He was about the right age, and there was a family resemblance.

The group climbed into some waiting carriages and departed the station quickly. Stansbury hailed a hansom cab so he could follow.

There goes more of my money. No meat pie. Blast that Huntley.

Fortunately, the group didn’t travel far and stopped at a little church. As they exited the carriages, Stansbury was able to remain undetected by having the driver pull around the corner from the church and then paying him there. The lack of a tip earned him an annoyed look, which he studiously ignored. What did he care? He’d never see the man again.

Stansbury slipped into a rear door of the church, hoping to overhear something of interest. It quickly became obvious that a wedding was about to take place.

The ceremony started quickly enough. There were few guests, but he could still slip unseen into the rear of the church. The wedding party appeared, and the ceremony began.

The girl seemed almost delirious in her happiness, but not the gent. Both recited the words that tied the knot, and the wedding party looked relieved. The burly man seemed disappointed.

I bet he wishes he could have smashed the gent’s face in.

Huntley and the others certainly looked satisfied with the result. Why was this wedding between nobodies so important?

The group walked to a nearby restaurant for the wedding breakfast. Stansbury followed them inside and ordered tea and toast, earning an annoyed look from the waiter for placing a small order during such a busy time of the day. He chose a table where he could keep an eye on the wedding party. Huntley’s group from London didn’t stay long. Stansbury overheard them make their goodbyes to the newlyweds, and then they hurried off to catch the return train.

The best use of my time
might
be right here in Oxford. I need to investigate further to see if I can make any use of this mystery.

After the group from London departed, Stansbury continued to watch the newly married couple and their remaining guests, hoping that the trip here hadn’t been a waste of time and money. Why would Huntley travel so far for such a mundane wedding?

A middle-aged couple passed him as they left the wedding breakfast, and Stansbury overheard part of their conversation.

“... appears that the situation is quite respectable now. Caruthers was awfully distraught a month ago,” the man said to his wife.

“I’m just thankful the poor girl wasn’t ruined. When I heard that Mr. Attwood disappeared ....” The remainder of the wife’s reply was lost as the couple moved out of earshot.

Stansbury grinned with glee. He had two names and enough information so that he could ferret out the rest.

This might prove to be a productive day after all.

38 - A Bit Impetuous

Catherine stood next to her brother at the platform, trying to avoid looking at Huntley. She’d be going through the same ceremony in two more weeks, and the thought both terrified and excited her.

“If it’s all the same to you, sir, I’d like to stay here in Oxford for the day,” said Mr. Phipps. “I’ve never been much out of London before this, and I’d like to take the evening train back.”

“Certainly.” Charles said, handing the man his ticket. “Return whenever you like. Attwood is no longer your responsibility now that he’s married.”

“Much obliged, sir,” he said, tucking it into his pocket. He whistled a merry tune as he continued down the street.

Catherine watched as he walked away. “Do you think he’ll trade it in for a coach ticket and pocket the money he gets back?”

“He will if he’s smart, and Mr. Phipps is no simpleton.”

For the return trip, they all kept their original compartments. Elizabeth sat quietly reading a book, giving Catherine time to think.

Huntley had seemed preoccupied all day. Whenever she’d glanced his way, he seemed to be lost in thought. She hadn’t seen him at any social events lately, either. Now that they were engaged, his focus had returned to his shipping business.

She frowned, staring moodily out the windows of the train, watching the pastoral landscape rush past, but not really noticing it. Perhaps she should have married Anthony Watters. But no. That would never have worked. The man couldn’t focus on anything for more than a few weeks, and he had never accomplished anything in his life. How could she respect someone with so little ambition?

That brought her up short. Did she really value ambition and hard work? Of course she did. Why else would her goal be to win the fencing tournament?

Catherine glanced up as the compartment door slid open and Lady Wilmot walked in, but then the door banged shut behind her as the train went around a bend. She almost fell into the seat next to Elizabeth as she lost her balance, but she managed to maintain her aplomb. She and Elizabeth chatted amiably for a while, but it became apparent to Catherine that the woman wanted a moment alone with her daughter.

“If you’ll both excuse me, I think I’ll take a short stroll.” Catherine stood and smoothed her skirts. As she exited the compartment, she was forced to grab hold of the door frame as the train swayed, but she quickly righted herself.

She caught Lady Wilmot’s smile of thanks as she slid the compartment door closed.

The corridor was narrow, and there wasn’t much to see. All of the compartment doors were closed, so she headed toward the far end, where there was a door leading to the next car. Perhaps she could look outside and feel the wind as it blew past the train. That would be exhilarating.

With the swaying of the car, it was difficult to walk down the corridor, and when the train gave a jerk, she stumbled against the wall but managed to recover quickly.

She was surprised when the compartment door right next to her opened with a snap. She looked up to find herself face to face with Huntley.

“Lord Huntley, you startled me,” she scolded. A thrill of excitement shot through her at coming across him so unexpectedly.

He appeared just as surprised to see her. “Call me Daniel,” he said, gently correcting her. His expression was indulgent as he smiled down at her. “I heard a noise and thought that it might be the steward.”

“Not the steward, just me being clumsy.” She gave a short, embarrassed laugh. “This is much like being on the ocean, and I don’t have my sea legs.”

He grinned. “May I escort you somewhere? I’d hate for you to fall from a moving train.”

She rolled her shoulders in a relaxed shrug. “I’m not really going anywhere. I wanted to give Lady Wilmot a private moment with her daughter.”

As she looked up at Daniel, she suddenly became aware of how alone they were. He seemed very close to her in the narrow hallway. She could smell the faint, woodsy scent that she would always associate with him, and it affected her like an intoxicant.

“In that case, would you like to join me in my compartment? I’m on my own with no one to talk to. I’ve become a bit bored with my own company.”

She smiled and glanced down the empty passageway, and then looked into Huntley’s eyes. She really shouldn’t.

But she did.

He stood back and ushered her into the little room. As she moved past him, the train gave an extra jolt, and Catherine felt herself fall backward against him. He wrapped his arm around her from behind to keep her from falling.

“I see what you mean,” he grinned as he looked down over her shoulder and she turned her head to meet his gaze. “You’re all fumble-footed.”

Catherine felt one of his arms leave her waist and he reached behind them to slide the compartment door closed. He then wrapped both arms back around her waist, nuzzling his chin against her neck. “I like it when you fall into my arms,” he murmured as he gently kissed her neck, tickling her skin with his breath. “It reminds me of the night we officially met at Lady Wilmot’s dinner. When you tumbled off the ladder and into my arms.”

A jolt of heat rushed through Catherine as she recalled that evening and that first intoxicating kiss. She melted back against Daniel, savoring the strength of his chest against her back and feel of his arms encircling her waist. He was strong and warm. His wonderful woodsy fragrance with hints of leather and silk and something that was uniquely
him
enveloped her. He pressed his hand against her, just below her breasts, and she felt the heat of his palm seeping through her stiff corset.