Part 14 (1/2)
”Ah, yes, we're back to Flynn. You intrigue me with this notion that the man isn't who he purported himself to be. The question is, if he is not Captain Flynn, then who is he?”
”I wish I knew. I just know his appearance was too convenient. Face it, Justin, what are the odds of us meeting up with a man who had fought at Quatre Bras? An Irishman, and a captain to boot. And one thing more. Looking back at the entire incident, I think Jasmine recognized him.”
Justin lowered his cheroot. ”I beg your pardon?”
”I know. Ridiculous. There was just something suspicious about her reaction when he entered the room with Lydia. My cousin has never been adept at hiding her emotions, and I think she was...angry.”
”With Lydia, yes.”
Tanner shook his head. ”Who's to say? She was looking across the table at the two of them. At any rate, while you and Wigglesworth were conversing after dinner about whatever it is the two of you converse about-”
”We were discussing my ensemble for tomorrow. It's a nightly ritual. I could probably forgo the exercise, except that Wigglesworth would be devastated. But do go on.”
”Pardon me for allowing you to interrupt me with tales of the minutiae of your life.”
Justin looked at him quizzically. ”Oh, dear. You begin to sound like me. That isn't good, Tanner. I rely on you to be above such remarks.”
”It turns out I'm not above much of anything if I think Lydia is being hurt. But I apologize. May I continue? While you were consulting with your keeper, I visited the other two inns here in the village. Flynn was at neither of them. I returned here and asked one of the ostlers if they'd seen him ride out. I was told he'd ordered his horse saddled and rode out of the village, toward Malvern, or at least in that direction. There's no moon tonight, Justin. Where the h.e.l.l would a stranger to this part of the country go on a moonless night?”
”Straight into a tree or a ditch, I'd imagine, at least eventually. Are you going to confront your cousin?”
”Not here, no. I'll wait until we reach Malvern. Although I don't think Jasmine is capable of any sort of intrigue.”
”More hair than wit, I agree. Just the sort of woman who once appealed to me. Beautiful, and easily dazzled by bright s.h.i.+ny things, but not overstuffed in the brainbox.”
”Too bad. I'd make you a gift of her, if I didn't like you so much. She really is quite wearing on the nerves, something I didn't fully realize until I brought her to town with me for the Season. But I'm thinking more of her father.”
Justin deftly opened an ivory-topped snuffbox with one hand and took a pinch, raised it to his right nostril, and sniffed delicately. ”Thank you, no. I don't want him, either.”
Tanner smiled, which was what Justin had wanted him to do. ”I think Thomas may have decided my interests lay with Lydia, and not Jasmine. Although why he'd want to hurt her...”
”Oh, don't stop now.”
Tanner at last took a sip from the snifter, the brandy bitter on his tongue. ”He's looking for ways to turn her away from me. Bringing up memories of Fitz could do that.”
”Yes, all that business about you being the bearer of sad news and such. And why would he want to do that?”
”Why do I bother talking to you? You already know.”
”Yes, I think we both do. He would have Lydia turn away from you so that you at last give in and marry his little babbling darling, make her a d.u.c.h.ess, and thereby fill his pockets. This much we could have deduced even before Captain Flynn's appearance tonight. And? Finish it, Tanner.”
”The Malvern jewels. It would be in very bad taste for me to send my father-in-law to prison. Because only an idiot would believe I'd never discover the subst.i.tutions.”
”I've been out of the country for a long time, I grant you, but I believe the punishment for theft on such a grand scale is to be hanged, or at the very least transported. Now, this is all conjecture, knowing that the jewels could have been sold years ago, but excuse me if I allow fancy to take me further into the realm of speculation.”
”Don't bother. I'm already there,” Tanner said, getting to his feet. ”I marry her, give her a male heir, and then suffer a fatal accident. Her father serves as Jasmine's advisor and the child's guardian, and spends the remainder of his life swimming nicely in a nice deep gravy boat made up of my lands and fortune. At some point I'm certain there would be a terrible robbery at Malvern and the paste jewels would disappear.”
”All the dark melodrama of a Pennypress novel,” Justin said, nodding. ”Unfortunately, also plausible. So, who was our Captain Flynn, this man we should probably be thanking for being so clumsy?”
Tanner shrugged. ”A hireling? I'm just certain poor, transparent Jasmine recognized him, has probably seen him with her father, and knew him for a liar. I imagine her reunion with her father at Malvern isn't going to be pleasant. After all, she might not be the brightest person, but she has to know that she is being manipulated.”
”And, it would appear, the thought that her father's plans are moving on to possible fruition-marriage to you-is enough to cast her into strong hysterics. I hadn't realized you were such a terrible catch.”
At last, Tanner smiled. ”Her reluctance is rather lowering, isn't it? Truthfully, that reluctance is her most appealing trait.” He reached into his waistcoat pocket and withdrew a small, thick key. ”If you don't mind, I'm hoping you'll ride ahead of us tomorrow, as I'm planning to show Lydia a bit of Malvern from horseback before we reach the house. The Malvern collection is in a locked box secreted in a cut-out behind the portrait of the first duke. In my study. Probably not the best hiding place.”
”But changing it now might be rather like locking the stables after the horse thief has been,” Justin agreed, pocketing the key. ”I'd be happy to pa.s.s the time by examining the jewels. Then it's done, and we can move on to what seems to be more skullduggery in the making. You're such a fine host, Tanner, planning this amus.e.m.e.nt for your guest.”
Tanner shot him a darkling look. ”Thomas is probably already in residence, as he left for Malvern within hours of my telling him our plans. He says, to alert the staff to our arrival.”
”And Lord knows what else,” Justin said, nodding. ”I'll be careful to avoid him.”
”Thank you, Justin. At least that's off my mind. Now I need to go upstairs and speak with Lydia.”
”Do you think that's wise? She said she knows Flynn was mistaken. She was hurt by his words, certainly. But how much more upsetting to think that she has unwittingly become part of a conspiracy?”
”I'm not going to tell any of that. After all, we may both be mistaken.”
”Oh, now that wounds me. You could be mistaken. I, on the other hand, am almost always right. And as I concur with your conclusions, the chances are quite high that our Captain Flynn was sent here by Thomas Harburton expressly to undermine your budding romance with the fair Lydia.”
”Because I was with Fitz, and never told her that he was spending the months before the battle amusing himself with half the ladies in Brussels? I watched her mourning him, suffering, and all while knowing he'd been unfaithful to her?”
”You cad,” Justin said, shaking his head in mock horror. ”Then again, just another example of the honorable Tanner, choosing not to besmirch her memories of the man, even as you hope to court her yourself. Although she wouldn't have believed you if you'd said any such thing, probably sent you away forever. My goodness, being honorable does open a person to recriminations no matter what one does. I must remember to never decide to become moral.”
”I don't think any of us has to worry much about that,” Tanner told him. ”You enjoy your reprobate status entirely too much.”
”Thank you. Did I forget to point out that, if the dear Lady Lydia were to take you in distaste, I remain available to comfort her? You could mention that as she tosses you out on your ear.”
”I'll try to remember,” Tanner said, aiming his unlit cheroot at the fire. ”Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to be honorable.”
”I know.” Justin sighed. ”What a waste of a perfectly good evening.”
The clock in the vestibule of the inn chimed out the hour of ten as Tanner climbed the stairs to Lydia's chamber. He'd thought to give her time to weep, for he was certain that she would have needed to release her feelings at some point, but he couldn't allow her to spend the night wondering about Fitz's loyalty to her, his love for her.
As he turned down the hallway, a maid carrying a tray of dishes was just letting herself out of the chamber a.s.signed to Jasmine. ”If I might?” he asked, lifting the cloth from the tray, and then he smiled at the sight of all the empty plates. Clearly Jasmine had gotten over her snit. ”I see Miss Harburton retains her usual healthy appet.i.te, Mildred.”
”Yes, Your Grace,” the maid said, bobbing a curtsy. ”She's tucked up proper and all but fast asleep. I asked if she wanted me to stay with her-seeing as how she's in a strange bed-but she said she was fine.”
”Thank you, Mildred. I imagine you'd like to seek your own bed now. It was a long day on the road.”
”Yes, Your Grace.” The maid bobbed another curtsy and hastened toward the back stairs.
Tanner rapped lightly on Lydia's door, quietly announcing himself, and then wondered if she, like Jasmine, had already retired for the night. Had he left his visit too late?
The door opened quietly on a room dark save for the light of the fire and a few small candles, and Lydia appeared in the doorway. She was dressed in a virginal white dressing gown that ruffled prettily beneath her chin, and her lovely blond hair was down, floating over her shoulders. As his body attempted to betray him, he carefully kept his gaze at eye level. ”I'm sorry. I wanted to talk to you about what happened earlier, but I see I've probably left it too late.”
”Please don't go,” she said, opening the door wider. ”I...I've been waiting for you, actually, hoping you would come. But you're not going to apologize for kissing me, are you? Because I'd really rather you didn't.”
He slipped inside and quietly shut the door. ”That's good, Lydia, because I'd really rather I didn't, too. I will say that's it's probably a good thing Justin came along when he did. I didn't frighten you, did I? Oh, wait,” he added, feeling fl.u.s.tered, and he was never fl.u.s.tered; if Justin could see him he'd be rolling on the floor, clutching his stomach in mirth. ”I should prop the door open, shouldn't I?”
Her smile was very nearly indulgent. ”I can always scream for help if it becomes necessary. Leave it closed.”