“M'niece,” Lord Rockwell said gloomily, a worried expression crossing his normally sunny countenance.
Nicolas's brow rose higher. “The heiress? Thea? Theda? Something like that?”
“Tess. Short for âTheresa.' Named after her great-grandmother. The one who ran away with your grandfather,” Alexander offered helpfully.
Nicolas rolled his eyes. “I know which one. But why is she a problem? Has she run away with her dancing master or something equally scandalous?”
Taking a bite of rare roast beef slathered with spicy mustard, Tom said, “Wish it was that simple. Thing is, believe Avery means to marry her. Came down here to see for ourselves.” Tom's expression became even more gloomy. “Can't abide Avery. Like Tess. Wouldn't want to see her leg-shackled to a bounder like Avery!”
“Well, yes, I do see your problem, but if the chit's your niece, why don't you just whisk her way to Cornwall?”
“Can't,” Alexander answered morosely. “Aunts.”
Looking thoroughly confused, Nicolas repeated, “Ants? ... Oh, you mean aunts? What do they have to do with the situation?”
“There is two of âem, and Tess won't leave 'em. That clutch-fisted bastard Gregory left them damn near penniless. Dependent upon Avery. Tess insists that Avery would mistreat them if she weren't around to keep an eye on things.”
“Well then, you're warm enoughâset them up in their own householdâThea, er,
Tess
will be away from Avery and she'll have her two aunts with her. What could be more simple?”
“Got principles, the aunts, especially Hetty,” Alexander answered bitterly. “Won't even let Tess use
her
money, let alone ours to rescue them from Avery's pinch-penny ways.”
“Well then, you're just going to have to explain everything to, er, Tess and, for her own good,
make
her go with you to Cornwell. If the aunts' situation becomes desperate enough, I think,” Nicolas finished coolly, “that you'll be able to overcome their principles.”
Baron Rockwell looked keenly at Nicolas. “You ever met Tess?”
“Tom, she's a Mandeville! Now what do you think? I wouldn't know the chit if she came riding up to my front door.”
“Thing is,” Tom said grimly, “if you knew Tess, you'd know what a damn fool idea that notion of yours is. You can't
make
Tess go anywhere that she don't want to go. And she ain't leaving her aunts. Got a mind of her own, does Tess.”
Nicolas sent him a look. “How old is this niece of yours, anyway?”
“Turned twenty-one this past April.”
“Good God!” Nicolas muttered irritably. “Why didn't you take her in hand long before this? Or at least have married her off as soon as she came out of the schoolroom? If you're so worried about her marrying Avery, find a suitor you
do
like and get her married. Then you can let her husband teach her respect for male authority and he can handle the problem with the aunts.”
Rockwell and Alexander exchanged glances. Silence fell. Rockwell leaned forward confidingly. “We've already thought of that,” he said finally. He paused, looked at his brother again, and then said in a rush, “Thought you'd make a good match for Tess!”
Nicolas stared at his two friends as if they had suddenly sprouted daffodils from their ears. “You thought
what
? Knowing the estrangement between the Talmages and the Mandevilles, you thought I just might”âdespite his best efforts, his voice roseâ“want to
marry
Tess Mandeville! Good God! Have the pair of you lost your senses?”
“Told you he wasn't going to like it,” Alexander said to his brother.
“Well then,
you
come up with a better idea,” the baron retorted in harried accents.
“Didn't say it wasn't a good idea,” Alexander replied thoughtfully. “Said I told you he wasn't going to like it.”
“It's a ridiculous idea,” Nicolas said scathingly. “And only a pair of maggot-brained fellows like yourselves would have thought of it!”
Both brothers looked at him innocently. “Think about it, Nick,” Alexander persisted manfully. “Except for that bastard Gregory ...” He stopped and added scrupulously, “And Avery, all the Mandevilles got good blood in their veins. Well connected, too. Respectable family. Tess is a pretty little thing.” Gloomily he admitted, “Not biddable, though. Got a temper.” Then he brightened. “But she has a fortune. You need a wife. She needs a husband. Good idea if you married her.”
Nicolas ground his teeth together. “I am
not
going to marry your bloody niece!”
Alexander sighed. Looked at his brother. “Told you he wouldn't like it.”
The baron, normally as amiable and convivial a fellow as one could meet, sent his beloved brother a glance of acute dislike. “Stop staying that! I know he doesn't like it, but if he won't marry her, what the devil are we going to do?”
His own temper cooling, and reminding himself that he'd been friends with the Rockwells for a long time and should have been used to their harum-scarum fits and starts, Nicolas said in calmer tones, “Why don't you just go talk to Tess? Explain your fears to her. If she's a reasonable young woman, she'll realize her own danger . . . unless, of course, she
wants
to marry Avery?”
Both Rockwells shook their head.
“Can't abide him,” said the baron.
“Would like to skewer his liver,” added Alexander.
“Well then, simply tell her,” Nicolas said reasonably, “that if she doesn't want to find herself compromised, she would do well to follow your advice and remove herself, and her aunts, to Cornwell.”
“Intended to, but can't. Told you we had a problem,” Rockwell said indignantly. “Avery won't let us see her! Been there today already. Place is locked up tighter than a virgin's thighs. No one around but that hatchet-faced fellow of his, Lowell. Wouldn't even let us in the place! Said the master had gone to London, which I think is all hum, and that the ladies weren't receiving visitors!” His brilliant blue eyes kindled. “Visitors! I'm her damned uncle! She knew we were coming. Wrote her. Told her we'd be here today. Long visit. Mentioned going to Cornwell for Christmas.”
Despite telling himself that it was none of his business, that he wasn't going to get involved, particularly with the affairs of anyone named Mandeville, Nicolas felt the first stirrings of unease for Tess Mandeville. From past experience he knew that Avery Mandeville was an unscrupulous bastardâin Portugal an entire loving little family had been destroyed because of himâand now he felt all the remembered fury and horror surge up through him. If the new baron had decided to marry the Rockwells' niece, she could very well be in a great deal of trouble. “Do you think Avery read your letter?” he asked abruptly.
Both men looked at him dumbfounded. “Could have,” the baron said slowly. “If it arrived and Tess wasn't there. God knows Avery's scoundrel enough to read other people's letters.”
Nick stared at his steepled fingers. “
If
Avery knew you were coming, and
if
he really does have plans to marry Tess, willingly or not, then the news of your impending arrival must have sent the wind up him. It wouldn't take a genius to realize that you must have heard talk of some sort in London that had you worried and that you were coming to Kent to discover how the land lay for yourselves. From what you've told me about the contents of your letter, its pretty obvious that once you arrived here, your niece wasn't going to be out of your company ... or protection. Avery would also know that you were planning on spiriting her away to Cornwell for a visit that would last until after the first of the yearâor longer. By which time you might have convinced her
not
to return to Mandeville Manor. That wouldn't,” he ended quietly, “have pleased our dear Avery very much.”
“Goddamn him!” Alexander burst out furiously, his blue eyes blazing. “If that bastard has harmed her or Hetty ... laid a hand on them, I'll ...” Words failed him.
Nick was frowning. “You know,” he said, “it's possible that Lowell was telling the truthâthat Avery is in London.” When both men glanced at him, he added, “I passed him on my way down here a few days ago. He was alone and he was driving rapidly in the direction of the City.” His frown grew. “But if Avery is in London ... why didn't the ladies welcome you?”
There was a horrified silence. Alexander blanched and swallowed painfully. “You don't think,” he began in an appalled voice, “that he
murdered
Hetâthem, do you?”
“While Avery is very capable of murder,” Nicolas said grimly, “I don't believe that it would be in his best interests to murder the young lady he plans to marry! Nor, I might add, her auntsâat least not until he had secured her fortune.” Nick looked at the two men. “I think you need to see Tess, and as soon as possible.”
“We know that,” Alexander muttered. “That's why we have a plan.”
“A plan?” Nick asked warily, reminding himself that while the Rockwell family were noted for their stunning looks, it was equally well known that none of them could be said to possess a high intellect. “What sort of plan?”
The brothers exchanged pleased glances. “We wait until after midnight and then we break into the house. Find the ladies and take them away. Simple!”
“Assuming that Avery is away and that you won't have to confront him, what do you suppose Lowell and the other servants at the manor are going to be doing while you two are busily breaking into the home of a lord of the realm, hmm?”
“Uh, sleeping?” Alexander offered hopefully.
The baron leaned forward. “Thing is, Nick, we need your help. After your exploits on the continent, you know all about getting in and out of tight spots undetected. We thought you'd help us.”
Nicolas closed his eyes. Yes, only the Rockwells would think nothing of embroiling their friends in such a wild scheme, nor would they hesitate a moment to join in, if the situation were reversed. The problem for Nick was that, for all the reasons to refuseâand there were severalâhe knew he was going to help them.
Sighing, he said, “I will help you on one condition.” He sent them a hard look. “You do
exactly
what I say, when I say it. No improvising. No deciding halfway through that you have a better idea. Swear it!”
With alacrity both men gave him the vow he wanted, and the next several minutes were passed in laying out a plan for the storming of Mandeville Manor that night. Getting inside the manor, Nicolas told them acidly, was the easiest problem to solve. It was once they were inside that things would get complicated. Fortunately, the Rockwells had been guests at the manor several times and were quite intimate with its layout and design, which eliminated their fumbling around in unfamiliar territory. The greatest problem was the ladies: if they
were
being held against their will, it would be up to Nicolas and the Rockwells not only to free them, but to find a place for them to stay.
For obvious reasons Sherbourne Court was
not
one of the places to offer them sanctuary. In selecting a place for the women to stay, their rescuers had also to consider the possibility of scandal. Despite being notoriously indiscreet themselves, the Rockwells wanted as little gossip as possible about their niece and tonight's escapade. So taking the women just anywhere wasn't an option.
Inwardly Nick sighed, knowing the solution was right before his eyesâif Dolly wouldn't mind passing herself off as a servant for a day or two. His lips hardened. It shouldn't prove too arduousâhadn't she been playing the part of a servant the night he had found her? His mind was made up; Tess Mandeville and her aunts could be comfortably hidden away in the gatekeeper's cottage until another, more permanent solution could be found. He smiled suddenly. His grandmother might not be overly fond of the Mandeville women, but he suspected she would be more inclined to tolerate their presence at the gatekeeper's cottage than that of his mistress! He shook his head. Who would have believed there would come a time that he'd actually be grateful to the Mandevilles? At least for the moment, their presence gave him the excuse he needed to explain opening the old cottage.
Their scheme decided upon, conversation drifted onto other topics, and it was then that Nicolas realized his own plans for the afternoon and evening had been changed drastically. Explaining the need for Dolly to temporarily give up her rooms and move downstairs to the servants' quarters was not going to be pleasant and was not something he could simply put in a note. He'd have to tell her in person, and he glanced consideringly at the two men sprawled comfortably around his table.
It was unlikely he'd be able to escape any time soon, for any length of time, so he excused himself for a few moments. In his rooms he hastily wrote a short note to Dolly, telling her only that he was delayed but would see her later in the day. She was
not
to go exploring on her own, and he swore that just as soon as possible they would begin looking for the secret entrance to the cellars.