‘My father had very strong opinions about the French Revolution. He had a deep-seated fear that what had happened in France would cross the channel and cause a revolt here. He believed strongly that King George needed protection and Prinny as well. Believing if they were safe, there would be little chance of members of the
ton
facing the same fate as the French aristocracy. You see, he worried for the safety of this family. He created a secret organisation made up of men and women whose sole purpose was to ferret out any threats against the Crown and to protect the royal house with their lives, if necessary. On the day he died, he made me promise him that I would do everything in my power to ensure King George and Prinny remained safe before I assumed his role in overseeing that select group of individuals.’
The look of confusion was still in her eyes, along with some disbelief. ‘Surely you are joking.’
He shook his head. ‘It is all true.’
She pointed to the portrait of his father above the mantel. ‘You expect me to believe that man organised a secret society to protect the Crown?
That
man?’
‘He did.’
She studied the image of his father through narrow eyes, as if she would find a clue to his father’s secret dealings within the portrait. Then she turned back to him and gave him the same appraisal. ‘I do not know why you find it necessary to tell me such a fantastical tale, but I do not find it amusing and it does not improve my trust in you.’ She looked away and brushed out non-existent wrinkles from her lap.
‘Olivia, what I am telling you is the truth. I am responsible for protecting the Crown.’
‘And I am a Grand Duchess of Russia, simply raised in England as a girl,’ she bit out with sarcasm.
‘You yourself admitted you have suspicions about me. That is why I am telling this to you. Why did you feel it necessary to try to open a locked drawer to my desk? You know deep down what I have told you is possible.’
Her hand stilled from where she had been about to pick an invisible thread from her sleeve and she stared at the hearth. Her eyes were moving as if she was reading a message in the ashes and he could see she was considering what he said.
‘You are too clever to discount what I am telling you, Olivia. You know what I am saying is possible—that it is the truth.’
She looked back at him and he could see she was struggling to believe him. ‘How long have you been involved in this?’
‘I took a vow to give my life for the Crown when I was at Cambridge.’
‘So when we were introduced you were already working for your father?’
He nodded and saw the moment she realised what he told her was possible.
‘You’ve been deceiving me from the moment we met!’
‘We are sworn to tell no one. One of the reasons we have been successful in stopping plots against Prinny and King George is because we operate in secret. My own mother and most of my closest friends do not even know. Lyonsdale doesn’t know.’
‘Lyonsdale is not your wife. I am,’ she spat with fire in her eyes.
‘I swore an oath.’
‘Then why tell me now? What has changed?’
‘Everything has changed,’ he replied forcefully. ‘I misjudged you and did not know you well enough to trust you with something like this years ago. I see now how much you have come to care for Prinny and know you would never do anything to cause him harm. If I continued to keep this secret from you, it would pull us further apart. I do not want that.’ He placed his hand over hers. They remained cold under his touch through her embroidered silk gloves. ‘I do not want to go back to the way things were between us. I like waking up to you. I like being together with you and Nicholas even if at times it is at an absurdly early hour of the morning. And I like knowing that when I want to see you, I will not be turned away. I have missed your intelligence and your wit. And there is no place I would rather be than in your bed. There is no other woman I want more than you, Livy.’
She slid her hands out from under his. ‘Explain the carriage I was brought home in yesterday.’
‘It’s used when we have a need to observe people who we suspect have plans against the Crown.’
‘And the box?’
‘There are times disguises are necessary.’
‘Tell me about the package in Richmond.’
Bloody hell, she was even craftier than he thought! ‘What do you know of Richmond?’
She reached inside her glove and withdrew a charred piece of paper. ‘Tell me about the package you received in Richmond,’ she repeated, holding it out to him.
‘An attempt has been made on Prinny’s life—’
‘He is hurt? Is—’
‘He’s fine. I have him in Carlton House to keep him safe until we are certain we have in custody all those involved in this plot. The package this refers to is a person. It’s the man who has been supplying information on Prinny’s whereabouts.’
‘You saw this person last night?’
‘I did.’
‘Well, I hope someone beat him to a bloody mess.’ From the anger rolling off her, he’d wager she would volunteer if given the chance.
‘You may not feel that way when I tell you his name.’
‘Why should I show concern for such a person?’
He had an urge to beat Manning himself for the hurt this was sure to cause his wife. Instead he walked to the fireplace to take his anger out of the logs. As he jammed the poker into the flames, sparks flew up the chimney.
‘Gabriel, do I know this man?’ she asked, walking over to him.
From her expression he thought it best to place distance between Olivia and the heavy metal object in his hand, so he hung the poker back on the rack. ‘Mr Manning was informing the assassin of Prinny’s plans.’
She backed away from him. ‘That’s not amusing.’
‘It was not meant to be.’
‘John Manning would never do such a thing.’
Gabriel took a step closer to comfort her, but she took another step back.
‘You are just saying that because you do not like me sitting for him. You will find any excuse to prevent him from painting that portrait.’
‘That is not true. He was gathering information about Prinny while painting those within the royal circle. That information was given to someone who intends to kill Prinny. We have his confession.’
Her breathing became more rapid as she processed what he had told her. ‘He asked me to sit for that portrait. He said it was because only I...’ She stormed past him and grabbed the poker. ‘That weasel! And to think I recommended him to friends.’
By the time she had finished stabbing the logs, they would be tiny bits of ash. At least she had got over her shock and wasn’t a sobbing mess. He took a step closer just as she whirled around, waving the poker at him. He backed up just in time.
‘I hope he can no longer stand this morning.’ She turned back around and jabbed the logs. ‘What kind of person seeks the blood of another?’
Gabriel went to step closer and she yanked the poker out of the fire.
He froze.
‘He should be punished for this,’ she said through her teeth.
‘He will be. Once we have captured whoever is responsible for this, Manning will face trial. You should know that he was coerced into giving away the information. If he did not oblige, members of his family would have been maimed.’
‘He still should have found a way to get out of his predicament.’
‘Sometimes that’s not always possible.’
‘I don’t believe that. If you think clearly, you can always find a way.’
It was hard to imagine what it would feel like to be sheltered from the ugliness in the world. ‘Put the poker down, Olivia. You have successfully reduced the logs to ash.’
She narrowed her eyes at him and hung the poker on the rack. Dusting off her hands, she turned her head towards his desk. ‘Why do you keep your desk locked? Is that where you hide your secret papers?’
He knew she would never have simply forgotten all that she suspected. Taking off his ring, he adjusted it so it formed the key to his desk. Her surprised expression brought a smile to his lips. ‘Open it and you will see,’ he said, handing her his ring.
She crossed the room as if she were heading to her own execution and pushed the chair away from his desk. The key stalled momentarily in the lock before giving way with a click. There was a slight hesitation before she cautiously slid her hand inside.
There were only three things Gabriel kept in that drawer. Apparently she had no interest in the pistol. She took out the stack of papers, but once she saw they were blank she returned them to the drawer. Then she removed the small box and placed it on top of the desk. She stared down at it as if it would devour her where she stood.
‘Open it,’ he commanded softly into her ear.
Holding her breath, she raised the lid and picked up the lover’s eye. It took a moment before she almost dropped it.
‘I had Cosway paint it from your wedding portrait. The jeweller who set it brought it to me the day after Nicholas was born. I wore it for a year before I realised there was no hope for reconciliation between us. It sat there unopened for years until yesterday when I found you in my study. Now you have uncovered the secret of my locked drawer.’
She looked back at the small gold brooch in her hand. ‘You wore this?’
‘Every day for a year.’
‘How did I not notice?’
‘You barely looked at me and even if you did, you would not have seen it. I wore it under my coats. I’ve missed you, Livy. I hadn’t realised how much until recently.’
She searched his eyes as if gauging his sincerity. Finally her lips curved into a small sad smile and she placed the pin back in the box. ‘I have missed you as well.’
‘I want you as my wife, in every sense of the word.’
‘I want that, Gabriel, I do, but I will not take you back into my life knowing you will run to Madame LaGrange to satisfy your needs. Most women would look the other way. But I cannot. I would rather we lived here as strangers than to have a marriage like that.’
For years Madame LaGrange would trust only him with the intelligence she had gathered. She knew the danger she was putting herself in and he could not blame her for wanting to have only one person as her contact. But what if he could convince her she could also trust Andrew? Then he would no longer have to see her and there would be no danger of Olivia believing the worst. They could begin again and put the past behind them. ‘I won’t. You are the only woman I need. There will never be another.’
All this time he had not been alone in missing what they had. He cradled her neck in his palm and lowered his lips to hers. What had started out as a kiss of mutual affection turned into much more. He poured out everything he couldn’t say to her—didn’t know how to say to her—into that kiss.
As if she needed to be as close to him as he did her, Olivia worked the buttons of his tailcoat and then his waistcoat. He picked her up and settled her lovely bottom on the surface of his desk, all without breaking the kiss.
He needed her and needed to be inside of her to reassure himself she was his. The silk of her gown glided over his hands as he skimmed his fingers up her soft, warm legs. Her breath caught within their kiss as his hands moved higher and higher.
A soft knock stilled them and Gabriel looked at the door. Olivia pushed against his shoulders, but with one hand he grabbed her about the waist and the other hand remained on her thigh.
‘Yes?’ he called out, sounding as if he had spent the day in a loud debate within the House of Lords.
The handle of the door turned halfway before the lock prevented it from making a full rotation. ‘Your guests have arrived, sir, and are waiting in the Green Drawing Room,’ was the muffled reply from Bennett.
Gabriel and Olivia looked at one another in mutual confusion, until they both recalled they were having dinner with his family. Olivia pushed harder against Gabriel and this time he let her go. Stepping away from the desk, he buttoned his waistcoat and began to tidy his clothes.
‘Tell them we will be there shortly,’ he called to the closed door.
‘Yes, sir,’ was the muffled reply.
When he turned back around, Olivia was adjusting the neckline of her gown.
‘May I help you with that,’ he asked with a grin.
‘I believe you have done enough for now.’
‘I’d like to do more.’ Visions of entering her were not going away. ‘It is unseasonably warm this evening,’ he said with an arch of his brow.
Her hand stilled from shaking out her skirts and she looked up at him. ‘Perhaps we should venture out into the garden when our guests leave.’
It was uncanny how quickly she could follow his train of thought. ‘Perhaps we should.’ He took her hand in his and pressed a kiss to her skin. ‘I haven’t been in the walled garden in ages. Are we still in possession of that sun dial?’
The tip of her tongue ran over the dip in her upper lip. ‘We are, but it won’t be of much use in the dark.’
‘It will be most useful when I bend you over it and take you from behind.’
Her brown eyes darkened and he knew she was picturing it just as he was. If he made it through dinner without dragging her out of the room and into the garden it would be a miracle.
Olivia was the first to look away as she flattened out her skirt. ‘Do I look presentable? I don’t resemble a doxy who has just had a tumble?’
He laughed and shook his head. ‘I assure you my family will have no idea what we’ve been doing.’
Her eyes widened as she glanced at the door. ‘Your family... Gabriel, we cannot keep them waiting.’
Grabbing his arm, she propelled him towards the door. When they reached the door, he spun her around and kissed her one last time. Then she pushed him away, turned the key in the lock and before Gabriel was able to say another word, she was practically running with him down the hall to the Green Drawing Room.
Aside from their heavy breathing from running through their house, Gabriel thought they had disguised their activities rather well. That was until his mother, Andrew and Monty turned towards them from where they had been sitting near the window. His mother’s eyebrows rose into her hairline, Andrew’s right brow arched with a knowing look of amusement and Monty’s mouth had opened so wide he resembled a fish.