Victorian Vigilantes 01 - Saving Grace (16 page)

“They seem to have a lot to talk about.”

Barker shrugged. “Well, that’s women for you.”

After several minutes the woman stood up, called to her nurse and walked away, her hand holding onto her little boy.

“Barker, you and Hill stay with Mary. Don’t on any account loose her. I’m gonna follow the lady.”

“She might be no one.”

Stoneleigh ground his teeth. Barker seemed to think he could challenge Stoneleigh’s rightful position as the master’s right hand man and had recently started questioning everything Stoneleigh told him to do.

“And she might be the key to it all. Just do as you’re told and leave the thinking to those with brains in their heads.”

Stoneleigh followed in the woman’s wake but stayed a good distance back. There were a lot of people about in this area of the park, mostly women with children, but a few men as well. He probably stood out because he wasn’t as well dressed as the others. Since the woman he was following didn’t once look back he had nothing to fear.

She reached the main walk, where a carriage awaited her. Her coachman wasn’t wearing a livery, which seemed odd. Stoneleigh jumped into Woodstock’s waiting carriage and told the driver to follow the woman. Her carriage headed toward Knightsbridge and then actually along Sloane Street. That surprised Stoneleigh. He had expected her to head to a more fashionable part of town.

Her coachman looked back several times, vindicating Stoneleigh’s decision to follow her. Coachmen didn’t generally look behind them. Fortunately there was enough traffic for Stoneleigh not to concern himself with being seen. The woman’s carriage reached Sloane Square and pulled to a halt. Stoneleigh cursed but had no choice but to drive on. There were four exits leading from the square. Which one would she take?

“Go straight home,” Stoneleigh told the coachman when their carriage was obliged to halt in traffic.

He leapt from the conveyance hoping that the lady, whose carriage was still on the other side of the square, hadn’t noticed him. Luck was with Stoneleigh and a vacant handsome passed him just as the lady’s carriage moved off again, blinds closed.

“Follow that carriage,” Stoneleigh told the jarvey.

It led them to a reasonably-sized house in Chelsea—a house that it would be easy to gain access to. But first Stoneleigh needed to find out who it belonged to. He paid the driver and looked around. There was a tavern situated on the corner, which would be the perfect place to discover all he needed to know.

***

Eva felt more alive with every minute she spent beneath Lord Torbay’s roof. His servants were polite and attentive, every courtesy was extended to her and, best of all, William wouldn’t appear unexpectedly, making unreasonable demands.

“I am pleased to inform you your daughter is well,” Lord Torbay told her across the luncheon table.

“You have heard from Mrs. Grantley already?” Eva was filled with anxiety and excitement. “Please tell me everything.”

Lord Torbay laughed. “Grace and Olivia’s son fed the ducks together.”

Eva wiped a tear from the corner of her eye and sat forward, greedy for any scrap of information about her daughter’s welfare. “Gracie loves to feed the ducks. But is Grace all right? Did she seem unhappy about my absence? We have never been parted before.”

“By all accounts, she appeared well, if a little subdued.”

“Hmm, subdued.” Eva bit her lip. “What do you mean by that exactly?”

Lord Torbay threw up his hands. “I can only tell you what has been told to me, Lady Eva.”

“Yes, of course. I’m sorry.”

“Did Olivia notice anyone watching her?” Isaac asked.

“No, but I had one of my men driving her carriage and he thought they might have been followed from the park. They managed to lose their pursuers, if indeed they were being pursued, so all is well.”

“How can you be so sure?” Panic surged through Eva. “Mrs. Grantley could be in danger.”

Lord Torbay remained perfectly unruffled. “Olivia can take care of herself.”

Eva frowned. “You don’t seem terribly concerned for her welfare.”

“Olivia wouldn’t thank me if I interfered. Trust me, I know what I’m doing.”

“He usually does.” Isaac’s censorious tone lightened the mood. “It’s infuriating.”

“Was it worth Mrs. Grantley exposing herself?” Eva asked, unable to treat the matter in the same casual manner as Lord Torbay. “It doesn’t sound as though she learned anything to assist with your enquiries. Unless, you’re not telling me everything.”

Lord Torbay sighed. “On the contrary, I learned a very great deal, but in your anxiety for your daughter, you haven’t given me an opportunity to enlighten you.”

“Then please do.”

“Once Mary made the connection between Olivia and you, Lady Eva, she was most forthcoming.”

“I told you she would be.” Eva leaned forward, anxiously waiting to hear everything Lord Torbay could tell her about the situation in Sloane Street.

“It seems your husband tells everyone you have gone to the country to visit your family.”

“Ah, so that’s the story he is putting about. I did wonder.”

“None of his servants believe it. They all know he never lets you out of his sight and rumours abound in the servants’ hall. Anything from white slave trading to running away with a rich lover, apparently.”

Eva glanced at Isaac, who winked at her. She was furious with herself, and with him, when she realised Lord Torbay had noticed the gesture.

“I can well imagine,” she said with asperity. “However, news of my absence doesn’t help your situation. What else did she tell you?”

“You have a parlour maid named Rose?”

“Yes, what has she to do with anything?”

“Tell me about her.”

“She’s my husband’s…er, well, you know.” The gentlemen exchanged a speaking look. “She is always at odds with the other servants, but I actually feel quite sorry for her. It’s shocking that William takes advantage of her, especially when she can’t refuse him if she wants to keep her position.”

“Unfortunately that’s not the case. She is no longer in your husband’s employ.”

Eva widened her eyes. “She is not?”

“Mary says everyone below stairs is delighted by her spectacular fall from grace. She’s expecting a child, you see, presumably your husband’s, and he has turned her away.”

“How dare he!” Eva shook her head. “Poor Rose. I hope he at least provided for her.”

“That I couldn’t say.”

Eva shared a glance between them. “I am very sorry about Rose’s situation, but it doesn’t help you.”

Lord Torbay shrugged. “That’s true.”

“I feel rather useless, remaining here with nothing to do except put your servants to the trouble of looking after me. Tell me how I can help your investigation, Lord Torbay.”

“By thinking where your husband might hide anything he has written down regarding the theft of the diamond. If we could point Franklin in the right direction, it would help enormously.”

But it would help a great deal more if she was there to do the searching for them. Once again, someone would be endangering himself because she was afraid of her husband. “It will be somewhere in his study,” she replied. “He has an ornate desk. It’s a monstrosity but he is inordinately proud of it. It has all sorts of drawers and hidden nooks and I believe it makes him feel like a person of consequence when he sits behind it. I have always suspected whatever evidence he collects against people must be hidden somewhere about it. He is so proud of it that he only allows the servants to polish it when he’s in the room. He doesn’t trust them not to scratch it, you see.”

“His obsession over his desk and his privacy tell their own story,” Isaac remarked.

“Unfortunately he always locks both the desk and his study when he leaves the house, and he has the only key.”

“Excuse me,” Lord Torbay said, “but I thought you said the room adjoins his bedroom.”

“Yes, that’s true.” She brightened when a thought occurred to her. “He also locks that door but I happen to know he doesn’t carry the key with him. He places it in a nook on a shelf behind some books.”

“Franklin could get to that then,” Lord Torbay mused. “He doesn’t need a key, come to that. He could easily pick the lock when the house is quiet.”

“I wouldn’t recommend he try it,” Eva replied. “My husband is resourceful and mistrusts everyone. I believe he leaves things in a certain way and would know immediately if anything had been touched. His suspicions would be aroused and everyone in the house would be under scrutiny as a consequence.”

“If Franklin found the evidence we need, that wouldn’t matter. He could simply leave the house with it in his possession,” Isaac said.

“Yes, but that would warn Woodstock we were on to him and give him and whoever recruited him time to cover their tracks.” Lord Torbay fell into momentary contemplation. “Franklin doesn’t need to actually remove any documents. He just needs to find the name of the man we seek.”

“It sounds far too risky,” Eva said, shaking her head.

Lord Torbay sent her a charming smile. “Risk is what we excel at, Lady Eva.”

“Yes, perhaps, but…no wait!”

“What is it?” both gentleman asked at the same time.

“When I said the servants polish his desk, that wasn’t exactly true. Rose was the only one allowed in there, and not just for the purpose of polishing.” Eva paused to consider the matter, her heart racing. Perhaps she had thought of a way to help them. “He trusted her more than any of the others. If anyone knows where things are hidden in that study it will be her.”

“And if your husband has turned her away without a second thought for her condition then she will no longer be feeling charitably inclined towards him,” Lord Torbay said, completing Eva’s thought.

“Precisely. Find Rose, offer her money and you will gain your information.”

“Thank you, Lady Eva, you have been a great help. I must get word to Franklin and see if he can discover where Rose took herself off to.” Both men pushed back their chairs. “Please excuse us.”

They left her to her own devices for the entire afternoon. Eva spent the time reading, resting, and thinking about Grace and the house in Sloane Street. Was there something she had overlooked? She felt so useless. There must be some other way in which she could help that had not yet occurred to her.

Her face hurt from continuously smiling whenever her thoughts turned to Isaac and what she had agreed to do with him. Who would have thought her fortunes would take such a turn? Not for one moment did she regret placing herself in Isaac’s capable hands—hands that had yet to do more than hold hers, she recalled with a rebellious toss of her head. And yet the thought of them still made her body sizzle with anticipation.

Dressed in another sumptuous evening gown, Eva went down to find only Isaac awaiting her.

“Jake is dining with the Home Secretary,” he explained.

“Oh, I see.”

“I thought we might dine less formally since it’s just the two of us.”

Isaac led her into the small salon they had taken her to when she had arrived the previous day. Was it only one day ago? So much had changed in her life since then that it seemed hardly credible. A table was laid up for two in front of the fire.

“We will eat right away,” Isaac told Parker, holding Eva’s chair out for her.

The meal passed agreeably. Parker served them while Isaac made polite conversation. It was wonderful to be amongst people whom she respected and whose good manners were as natural to them as breathing. That was something William would never understand. No amount of money could make him what he was not. But Eva was determined not to spoil the intimacy of the moment with thoughts of William.

Only when the meal was completed and Parker had withdrawn did Isaac look upon her with an intimate intent that sent shivers down her spine.

“Go to your room and wait for me,” he said with quiet authority.

“Very well.”

He stood, helped her from her chair and opened the door for her. “Until later,” he said, taking her hand and kissing the back of it.

Isaac swirled the brandy around his glass, inhaling the fruity vanilla aroma as he raised it to his lips and took an appreciative sip. The fiery liquid trickled slowly down his throat but the sweet berry flavour lingered on his palate. He hardened as he thought about the other sweet juices that would slack very different thirsts before the night was out. It was still relatively early and he had at least an hour to kill before he could be sure the servants had retired and he could approach Eva without fear of detection. Isaac filled the time by planning his campaign.

Jake still hadn’t returned home when Isaac decided it would be safe to make his move. That was probably for the best. Although they hadn’t discussed the turn his relationship had taken with Eva, his friend was obviously aware of it. It was equally obvious it made him uncomfortable. It certainly compromised an assignment vital to the interests of his country. Isaac was surprised how little that thought concerned him.

“It’s only a damned piece of rock,” he muttered to himself. “I can’t understand what all the fuss is about.”

Isaac took the stairs two at a time. The upstairs corridor was empty but he still paused outside Eva’s door and listened for any sounds from within before deeming it safe to knock.

“Come in.”

She was seated beside the fire with a book open in her lap and a welcoming smile upon her sweet lips. Her lovely hair cascaded over her shoulders and she wore a robe, belted at the waist, over a nightgown. She was so beautiful she took his breath away and it was a moment before he felt sufficiently in control of himself to speak.

“If you have had a change of heart, now is the time to say so,” he said. “It is not my intention to place you under any obligation.”

Her responding smile was soft, sultry and sinfully tempting. “Your arrival has been joyfully anticipated.”

He opened his arms and drilled her with an expectant look. “In that case, come here. I wish to claim my winnings.”

She dropped the book, stood up and glided elegantly across the room, apparently unconcerned about her state of semi-undress. How different she already was from the timid creature of last night. His arms closed greedily around her as soon as she walked into them, her soft curves colliding with the hard planes of his chest with a gentle thud that sent his pulses racing. Yea gods, what madness had made him suppose he could stop at simply give
her
pleasure?