Regency Romance Collection From Christina Courtenay (29 page)

His expression turned grim and he flung away from her. ‘You think I only marry women for gain? You and everyone else.’

‘No, Jake, that’s not what I meant at all. I’d marry you if you were a pauper, but you’re an earl, you have responsibilities. I’m sure it’s different for you.’

He came closer again and took hold of her hands, looking deep into her eyes, still serious. ‘Tell me the truth. You believe me to be a grasping opportunist? After all, I married a woman old enough to be my mother just to save my estate, didn’t I?’

Lexie shook her head. ‘I’ve always felt sure there was more to it than that. If you’d been that desperate, you would have eloped with some young heiress or something. Your reputation was such that another scandal wouldn’t have mattered.’

Synley’s expression relaxed. ‘You really think that?’

‘Yes, I do.’

‘Lexie, my love, then you are unique.’ Without warning, he pulled her into his arms and held her tight. ‘I thank you for your faith in me.’

Lexie looked up. ‘Am I right then?’

‘Yes, you are.’ He buried his face in her hair and breathed deeply, as if he was memorising her scent. ‘It was Catherine’s idea, actually. She had just found out that she had consumption and the doctors gave her a year, two at most. With no relatives to leave her estate to, she said she wanted to help me because I was the son of her dearest friend. And she couldn’t bear for Downes House to fall into the hands of her first husband’s distant relatives, whom he had disliked with a vengeance. I resisted at first, I knew what people would think, but in the end she persuaded me. I desperately wanted to save my own estate, which had been left on the brink of disaster by my father. Since I had a rather, shall we say, unsavoury reputation myself, I knew no respectable man would give me his daughter in marriage. Not unless I used underhand methods, which I didn’t want to do. So I agreed. It seemed preferable to eloping with some young chit who’d regret it the instant she realised she’d be ostracised from society for doing so.’

‘You did the right thing,’ Lexie whispered. ‘You’ve saved your inheritance for future generations and I’ve seen how well you look after your tenants.’

‘I try, but sometimes I think perhaps I shouldn’t have done it. I thought I had ruined my chances of ever having the sort of marriage I really wanted. And then you came back to tempt me.’

‘I’m not sorry I did,’ she said with a smile and he smiled back, then bent to place his mouth firmly on hers.

It was a gentle kiss at first, infinitely tender and loving, and Lexie allowed herself to melt against him. Her whole body sang with joy – he wanted to marry her and kissing him was no longer a sin. They would have their whole lives together, there was no hurry. Synley deepened the kiss and Lexie was lost in a maelstrom of sensation, which was only broken by a rapping on the French windows.

They looked up, somewhat dazed. ‘Damnation,’ Synley swore. ‘I’d forgotten about him. I suppose we’d best let him in.’

‘Yes, poor Nick. He must be wondering what’s happening. I’ve been in here an age and I haven’t even told you yet about Jasper’s plans.’

Synley went over to open the doors and Nick slipped inside, looking from one to the other. ‘I’m sorry, but I was starting to worry.’ Lexie smiled at him, unable to contain her happiness. ‘Ah, I see,’ Nick said. ‘Do beg your pardon, I didn’t mean to interrupt, but we should probably be getting back soon. I’ll, er, wait outside a while longer.’

‘No, stay.’ Synley stopped him by putting a hand on his arm. ‘I’m very grateful to you for bringing Lexie. Please come in while she tells me the whole tale again.’ He winked at Lexie, who caught his meaning.

‘Oh, yes, I was just telling his lordship ...’

‘Jake,’ Synley muttered.

‘Er, Jake,’ Lexie felt herself blush and Nick grinned at her, but stayed silent, ‘how Jasper is planning to waylay him tomorrow night on the way home from Lady Ketteridge’s party. He did say something about a rope, didn’t he, Nick? We could only suppose he means to trip your horse or possibly unseat you somewhere along the way, my l— Jake.’

Nick nodded. ‘Yes, and it would be an easy thing to find the rope and remove it, I suppose. But really we need to catch Jasper red-handed, so if there is any way you could pretend to fall off your horse without actually being injured, he might come to make sure you’re dead and then try and finish you off.’

‘I see you have a high regard for your brother,’ Synley commented with raised eyebrows.

Nick’s jaw tightened. ‘He’s scum, my lord, if you’ll pardon me saying so. I’ve suspected for a long time that he’s involved in criminal activities, but since my father was always on his side, I could never do anything about it. Now my father is dead, I want nothing to do with Jasper and neither do our sisters.’

Synley nodded. ‘Very well, let us set a little trap of our own then. Come, sit down and we’ll work out a plan.’

CHAPTER TEN

‘Are you sure you don’t mind staying behind, my dear? I feel so guilty going off without you, especially since he’s my son.’ Margaret was speaking in a hushed whisper just outside the door to Rupert’s bedroom and she did look concerned, as well she might, Lexie thought.

‘No, don’t worry. You know card parties aren’t my favourites. I’ll be fine here with Rupert and he seems a bit better now, so I can just sit and read in peace. Go and enjoy yourself.’

‘Well, if you’re absolutely certain? But do send a groom to fetch me if he should take a turn for the worse, won’t you?’

‘Of course.’

Margaret left at last and Lexie drew a sigh of relief. She waited until she had heard the carriage pull away down the drive and watched it until it was out of sight, then she turned to Rupert with a huge smile.

‘Well done, you were splendid! Synley was right when he said he thought you’d pull it off.’

Rupert grinned back and did a somersault on top of the bedcovers, looking the picture of health. ‘Eating chalk was your idea though, and having all those hot bricks in my bed to make me look flushed.’ He laughed. ‘It was fun, wasn’t it?’

Lexie turned a bit more serious. ‘Yes, but you must promise me you’ll never do this on your own. It was for a very special reason today, to help us catch a dangerous man, but we wouldn’t want you to scare your poor Mama like this again. Do you understand?’

‘Of course. I’m not a baby. Synley explained it all to me during our ride this morning. He said I was a vital ... er, something in his plan.’

‘Cog, yes, that’s right. I couldn’t plead a headache again or they might have become suspicious. This was much better. Now if you just wait there a moment, I’m going to go down and let Nick in the back way.’

Nick had pretended to leave that afternoon, saying that he had neglected his sisters for too long. In actual fact, he had first gone to Synley Priory for a while, then come back to wait in the forest until he too heard the sound of the carriage leaving. Lexie found him lurking in the shadows near the back door and together they ascended the servant’s stairs and went back into Rupert’s room.

‘Hello again. I take it you played your part to perfection?’ Nick went over to give Rupert a hug.

‘Indeed he did,’ Lexie confirmed. ‘He should be on the stage, I tell you. He had everyone convinced. Now how long do we have to wait before we leave?’

‘A half hour or so, I should think. Time enough to read Rupert a story. Would you like that?’

‘Capital.’

It was dark in the forest. Just like the previous night, Lexie would have been frightened if she’d been on her own. With Nick at her side, however, she felt safe and the two loaded pistols in her pockets helped a great deal as well.

‘I took the liberty of borrowing these from the carriage,’ Nick had said quietly when he handed them to her. ‘Synley told me you’re rather good with them. I hope he was right?’

‘I am, don’t worry. I won’t hurt myself or anyone else except on purpose. But what about you?’

‘I, er, liberated another two from George’s study. I saw that he had a pair of Manton’s finest duelling pistols in there, although I must say I’m surprised he didn’t take them with him.’

‘He couldn’t very well do so to a card party and presumably he thinks the ones I have are still in the carriage.’

‘Yes, of course.’

They stayed on the forest tracks as much as possible, rather than taking a direct route, but eventually they came to the Ketteridge’s mansion. Sounds of laughter and conversation floated towards them on the wind and there was a great deal of light spilling out of the windows. Carriages and horses waited on the drive in front of the entrance and the coachmen all appeared to be having their own conference huddled together in one corner.

Nick and Lexie stayed well outside and dismounted. They walked their horses into a thicket near the road and settled down to wait.

‘I don’t think anyone would be able to see us in here,’ Nick whispered. ‘But we’d better stay quiet and as still as possible just in case.’

‘I only hope Jasper hasn’t set the trap already,’ Lexie replied. ‘Then we won’t be able to warn Synley.’

‘No, how could he? If he’d tied a rope across the road before the party, he might harm someone else by mistake and the whole plan would fall through. It’s my guess he’ll either sneak out towards the end of the evening, or leave a bit earlier than everyone else.’

‘Whichever it is, it’s going to be a long wait.’ Lexie sighed and prepared herself for boredom.

Several hours crept by and Lexie was becoming jittery with frustration. ‘This is impossible,’ she muttered. ‘It’s not going to work.’ The longer they waited, the more things she could think of that might go wrong.

‘Yes, it will.’ Nick sounded sure. ‘Synley’s plan was a good one and as long as we follow it to the letter, everything will be all right.’

‘I don’t know ...’

Nick cut her off. ‘Shh, someone’s coming.’

There were footsteps crunching on the gravel of the drive, then George’s voice came hissing out of the darkness. ‘It’s too risky, I tell you. There must be a better way. Please, I beg of you, think again.’

Nick and Lexie looked at each other and froze. When they peered out from behind the bushes that hid them, they saw George holding onto Jasper’s bridle, while the latter fought to tug it out of George’s hands.

‘Let go, damn it. I’m tired of waiting and this is the only way. No one will know, for heaven’s sake. Someone rides too fast, the horse stumbles, they break their neck. Happens all the time. Now are you coming or not?’

‘No, I don’t want any part in this. You can keep your money. I’m on a winning streak anyway.’ George turned to march back towards the mansion.

‘Fine, have it your way. I’ll do this by myself.’ Jasper muttered a few choice expletives and set off down the road at a gallop.

Nick and Lexie waited until he had rounded a bend, before mounting their own horses and following him as quickly as they dared. Every time they came to a curve in the road, they slowed down and Nick jumped off and walked his horse until he could peer round to make sure Jasper was nowhere in sight. They stayed on the grass verge, so as to make as little noise as possible, and about halfway towards Synley Priory their caution paid off.

Nick returned from one of his observations and pointed up ahead, mouthing, ‘He’s there.’

Plunging into the forest, they tethered their horses and continued on foot until they could see Jasper some fifty yards away. He had chosen a particularly dark place along the road, where huge trees overhung it, their branches intertwined to form a sort of tunnel. Lexie and Nick crept closer through the undergrowth, keeping out of sight. Jasper was intent on his own business and only stopped occasionally to listen for any sounds of danger.

Lexie could barely make out the rope and surmised that Jasper had darkened it somehow, perhaps with soot or dirt. The surface of the road was dry and therefore lighter in colour, which was presumably why Jasper was tying the rope fairly high up. She estimated that it was at around the level of a horse’s chest and if someone rode full tilt into it, it would stop the horse in its tracks and the rider would go flying head first onto the road. The thought made her shudder.

‘Now what’s he doing?’ Lexie breathed in Nick’s ear.

‘Trying to find a good vantage point, I should think. I’m going closer. Can you stay here? If he gets away, fire at him, just to frighten him. Otherwise, follow the plan.’

‘Very well.’

Nick disappeared and Lexie shivered. Not so much from the night air, which was balmy, but from nerves. She was terrified their plan would somehow backfire and that Synley would be hurt or worse. She didn’t think she could bear to lose him again, now that she had finally found him and he’d asked her to marry him. It would be the worst possible luck.

She waited in tense silence, every nerve stretched to breaking point. She had no idea where Nick had positioned himself, but she hoped it was as close to the rope as they had agreed with Synley. At last she heard the sounds of a horse approaching and craned her neck to see. Her heart did an uncomfortable somersault when she caught sight of him. He was riding much too fast.

‘No, slow down,’ she wanted to shout at him, but she knew she had to stay hidden or their plan would fail.

As he passed her, she swallowed hard and managed to make a sound like an owl out hunting. She and Nick had practised it all morning, and although her throat felt very dry, she knew that Synley had heard her because he raised his whip as though to spur on the horse, but didn’t bring it down. That was the signal they had agreed upon and he was now ready for the next step.

When he was nearly upon the rope, another owl hoot echoed across the forest. Lexie had to admit that it sounded very real and she would never have been able to guess it had been made by a human, had she not known about it. As if startled by the noise, Synley’s horse began to buck and then leapt into the air, jumping neatly over the rope that was suspended between two trees. His back legs must have touched it, because he stumbled a little upon landing. Synley appeared to be struggling with the big animal, which was dancing around.

‘Whoa, whoa there, boy,’ Lexie heard him saying. She couldn’t take her eyes off Synley while she waited to see what Jasper would do next. She didn’t have long to wait.

A shot rang out and Synley pretended astonishment, then took off at full tilt down the road. Jasper erupted from the trees soon after, giving chase and the two of them disappeared out of sight.

‘Lexie? Lexie, are you there?’

‘Yes, I’m here, Nick.’

Nick came crashing through the undergrowth. ‘Are your pistols ready?’ Lexie nodded. ‘Come on then, let’s go and stand in the middle of the road on the other side of that bend.’

They did so and waited. All was quiet for a while and Lexie fought to quell the fear that rose within her again. What if Jasper had caught up with Synley? What if he had shot him from behind in cold blood? It didn’t bear thinking of.

‘I can hear them coming. Wait for it,’ Nick hissed.

They both cocked their pistols and stood aiming straight ahead. Soon Synley came galloping past them, having led Jasper on a chase through the forest so that they doubled back to the way they’d come. He swerved to a halt just behind them in a cloud of dust, then Jasper appeared, his murderous expression clear in the moonlight. When he caught sight of Lexie and Nick, however, he pulled hard on the reins, making his horse rear up.

‘Damnation!’ they heard him shout as he wheeled the horse around. He fired off a shot at them before setting off in the opposite direction once more, but they ran after him and returned fire. Nick shot indiscriminately, aiming high, but Lexie stopped and took proper aim before pulling the trigger. She saw Jasper’s horse jump and heard it neigh in fright. She very much hoped the animal wasn’t hurt, she had only aimed at the ground next to his hooves in order to make him nervous. It seemed to be enough to throw the horse into a panic, and it took off, completely out of control.

Synley had by now set off after Jasper and it was his turn to shoot. Jasper cried out and clutched one arm, at the same time as he was trying to slow his horse down. Lexie watched as he came closer and closer to the rope, which was still strung across the road, and she wondered how much further he would go before swerving off to avoid it.

‘What’s he doing?’ Nick shouted. ‘Why doesn’t he stop? He must know we have him trapped, the idiot.’

At the very last moment, Jasper managed to bring his horse under control and made it jump the rope, in the same way that Synley had done earlier, clearing it without any problems. They heard his laughter, taunting them. Then he turned around and stood up in the saddle, shouting something very vulgar, despite the fact that the horse kept going at a fast pace. In the next instant, however, his words were cut off when his head connected with a low tree branch and he was knocked out of the saddle.

‘Oh, dear Lord,’ Lexie murmured. She stood frozen to the spot for a moment before her limbs regained their movement and she began to run towards Jasper, following Nick who was already on his way.

But Synley, still on horseback, reached him first and when the other two arrived he had already dismounted and was kneeling next to Jasper. He looked up and shook his head. ‘I’m sorry, Nicholas. I didn’t mean for this to happen.’

Nick stood still and just stared at his brother for a few moments, then he closed his eyes and fell to his knees, grasping Jasper’s lifeless hand. ‘Oh no! I didn’t want him to ... I never wished him ... dead.’ His voice broke slightly and he bent his head, then doubled over as if his body couldn’t keep upright anymore because the weight of his grief was too much to bear.

‘Oh, Nick.’ Lexie patted his back awkwardly. She didn’t know what else to do. Nothing would bring his brother back.

Nick rocked back and forth a couple of times, then took a deep breath as if he was trying to gather his strength. He straightened up and looked at the others with a grim, but determined, expression. ‘Perhaps it was best this way,’ he whispered. ‘I always knew he’d end badly and this is preferable to what the law would have done to a would-be murderer. Will ... will you tell the magistrate, or shall I?’

Synley put a hand on his shoulder. ‘How about we just remove the rope and I ride to report that there’s been an accident? No one need know exactly what happened here tonight. That way there will be no scandal attached to either your name or mine. What do you say?’