Part 20 (1/2)
Justin remembered the letter. The one where he'd offered up Alina in exchange for ten thousand pounds. The letter he'd signed with his usual flourish. Even if the Inhaber had destroyed the letter, there was still the matter of the man's presence in London. There was no choice now; he had to meet with him. Explain. Grovel yet again, and this time to a real b.a.s.t.a.r.d of a man, not simply a well-born buffoon.
”Something has changed your mind, my lord, I can see it in your eyes. You will meet with the Inhaber tomorrow, won't you? Tell me, tell me the place of this meeting.”
”Major, you're still alive for only two reasons. The first is that I would not have Alina if not for your insane and, frankly, self-serving plotting. The second is that Loiza and the others I met in the camp have my sympathy for what Inhaber Novak did to their families. But if you want him dead, you'll have to find a way to do that without me. I'm done, do you understand that?”
”A man like you? The madman of Trebon? A man like you does not find it so easy to be done.”
”Don't push me, Major, or I might prove you right. I'll proffer your thanks to the marquess and give your farewells to Alina. Brutus will meet you at the stables in one hour, to escort you back to your uncle's camp. It seems you are to be a disappointment to him once again.”
He turned away, but then, as if he'd just thought of something else, he turned back once more. It was a maneuver that had served him well before, had even saved his life. ”That morning at the inn,” he said, ”when you were so adamant I not leave Alina with you while you traveled to Ashurst Hall. It seems a lifetime ago. I truly believed you were concerned for her. For the sake of her affection for you, I'd like to continue to believe that.”
The major drew himself up straight. ”I would of course have been upset had any real harm come to her. She is the daughter of my commander. Still, she is only a woman. They have their place in life. They were born to be useful to us, and sacrifices must sometimes be made. That is simply the way of the world.”
”Ten minutes,” Justin bit out between clenched teeth. ”Brutus won't be happy if he's kept waiting. No, that's not fair. You're injured. I'll give you the full hour, and then Brutus can carry you out.”
”Carry-?”
Justin knocked the major to the floor with a fist flush to the jaw, then swiftly stepped down hard on his injured shoulder until the man's eyes rolled up in his head. Then, to satisfy his curiosity, he rummaged inside the man's sling, to be rewarded when his hand closed around the small pistol hidden there.
He pocketed the weapon that probably would have been shoved into his back before he'd made it safely out of the room.
”You should have paid more attention to your own argument, Major,” he calmly told the unconscious man. ”You were right-it's not that easy for someone like me to be done.”
But ten hours later, he very nearly was.
The Inhaber might not have been as grateful for the information Justin gave him as one would suppose, as he'd already decided that his king was very much looking forward to attending his funeral. But once the farce of the disputed land was cleared up-the man had thought Lord Wilde mad when he'd read his letter-he'd agreed to reconsider the charges of the murder of his guards, accusing instead one Major Luka Prochazka.
This seemed reasonable to the newly civilized Baron Wilde, and he instructed Brutus to please put the Inhaber down, as the man's already red face was beginning to turn somewhat blue. He'd then tossed the Inhaber the keys to the cellars of the ruined church where the meeting had taken place, so that he could release his henchmen, who had surrendered with even more alacrity than Justin could have hoped.
A well-armed and growling Brutus did have that effect on some people, the last-moment addition of a crossbow an almost inspired touch.
With the letter that could have d.a.m.ned him (for the third or fourth time, he'd rather lost count of his recent indiscretions) now destroyed, all that was left was to ride back to Basingstoke, soundly kiss Alina, a.s.sure her he was fine and then gather up the inestimable Wigglesworth and hotfoot it to Carleton House, where he would grovel for, hopefully, the last time.
Except, when he rode up to the front doors of Basingstoke at noon, it was to be told that the master and mistress were not at home. Indeed, they had all, master, mistress, duke, d.u.c.h.ess and the dear Lady Alina, departed for London within minutes of sunrise that very morning, a journey of nearly fifty miles that would require several changes of horses and the const.i.tutions only the young possessed.
As Justin went tearing up the stairs, already ripping at his neckcloth and shouting for Wigglesworth, the butler called after him, ”The Duke and d.u.c.h.ess of Ashurst will be meeting them there, my lord. I overheard Lady Nicole say as much to her sister the d.u.c.h.ess. I imagine it will be quite the merry party. You are to join them at Carleton House this evening at eleven, if you wish, although you will be cutting it rather fine, won't you, my lord?”
The butler quickly clapped his hands over the ears of the youngest footman standing in the entrance hall as Justin offered his sentiments concerning what he wished....
”NICOLE, SIT STILL,” Charlotte Daughtry begged, not for the first time since the twins had joined Alina and the d.u.c.h.ess in the luxurious town carriage and headed off for Carleton House.
Alina had been taken to the duke's residence because her baggage had come to London with Charlotte and Rafe, leaving the twins to complete their toilettes in Tanner's Mayfair residence, so they had still to see Alina's gown for the evening. Charlotte thought that delicious, proving that though she might have been a practical sort, she could very much enjoy surprising the two young brides who had once been her charges.
”But it's so annoying. With all these coaches clogging the streets, it will take us forever to arrive. Justin can't get there ahead of us, or it won't matter when we get there, for he'll have already ruined everything.”
Alina's stomach performed a small flip as she sat on the facing seat, and it wasn't because she was riding backward, especially not at the snail's pace they were traveling. ”She's right, Charlotte. That could be disastrous. He'd strut into the Prince Regent's presence, perfect as Wigglesworth can make him, imperiously demanding to see me and be a.s.sured I'm fine.”
”Just before he tears a strip off your hide for having come to London without him,” Lydia pointed out reasonably. ”Tanner and Rafe have wagered fifty pounds on how long it will take him to turn from terrified fiance to infuriated lover.”
Nicole laughed. ”Well, now that we're all such a jolly party, I must say I'm pleased that Lucas was clever enough to confine our party to just two coaches. What do you think they're discussing back there behind us? How to subdue Justin if he becomes violent?”
”Justin doesn't become violent,” Alina told her rather proudly. ”He becomes efficient. And if he were to think that any harm might come to me, I believe he could become prodigiously efficient.”
”Oh, Lord, she's right,” Lydia breathed, shaking her head. ”Sometimes I wonder not only why my mind manufactures ideas such as this, but why I ever think to voice them in front of my sister.”
”But it is a brilliant idea,” Charlotte said soothingly. ”It's just as your aunt Emmaline has always said-sometimes men simply have to be saved from themselves.”
Alina giggled and sank back into the cus.h.i.+ons. She had yet to meet the twins' aunt, but she already liked her. Emmaline, she'd been told, was also married to a duke: the Duke of Warrington. She giggled again, knowing her nerves were badly rattled, unable to stop herself. But her aunt Mimi had always impressed upon her something she called the privileges of rank. Tonight Alina was absolutely knee-deep in dukes, and adding in the marquess made everything all the better. Bless Justin, he might think he was alone in his life, but he had very good, loyal and well-placed friends.
Perhaps enough of them to keep him from some dank cell, if Lydia's idea failed, if she, Alina, could not do her part as she was so determined to do.
The coach moved ahead yet again, and Nicole leaned forward to peer out the window. ”We're finally here. I can actually see a small mob of people waiting to mount the steps to the front doors. I'd always thought London was very thin of company at this time of year.”
”He's still the Prince Regent, still the heir to the throne,” Charlotte reminded them. ”If His Royal Highness wishes to commemorate the anniversary of the Great Fire with tonight's reception, then who are we to question his judgment?”
Nicole laughed. ”Especially when it so neatly dovetails with our own plan. How fortunate Rafe received that invitation. Ah, at last.” She reached for the handle, ready to open the door herself before Charlotte restrained her. ”Impatience. The greatest of my sins.”
”Really? I don't remember being offered a vote in that,” Lydia said, and her sister looked at her in amused surprise, so that she shrugged delicately and added, ”Tanner tells me I should speak my mind more often, rather than to keep my thoughts inside as I have always done. He said it would be very...freeing. I think he's right.”
”And I think I'm extremely grateful the two of you are married now, and no longer Rafe's and my responsibility. Shall we go? Alina? Are you all right, dear?”
She nodded, not quite sure she could trust her voice, and within minutes they were all slowly making their way up the outer steps and then up the curving marble staircase that led to the first floor of the Prince Regent's London residence.
She could feel eyes on her, both from the men and the ladies. She could hear the whispers. She took herself back to the Portsmouth docks and the first time she had set foot on English soil, the homeland of her mother.
And then, in her mind's eye, she replaced this mult.i.tude of well-dressed gentlemen and their perfumed and bejeweled ladies with the sailors, dockworkers, even the prost.i.tutes on those docks. After all, people were people, weren't they?
Besides, it made the whole thing easier. Especially if she continued to believe that Justin would soon be here. She did not doubt that he would have been successful in his dealings with the Inhaber. It was as Wigglesworth had a.s.sured her-the baron always prevailed. Perhaps not at first, but in the end the result was always the same. Success.
To divert her mind, she held on to the curved railing and took in her surroundings. There certainly was a mult.i.tude of gold gilt everywhere, along with crystal and stucco and a flotilla of candles that could easily have lit up a village. And yet the entire structure seemed somehow fragile to her, as if it might be only the stucco and gilt that held it all together and they were all fortunate to not have the vaulted roof tumble down on them at any moment.
She raised her eyes to the enormous chandelier at the very top of the staircase. Was that a crystal dove at the center of it? With its eyes picked out in rubies? How ludicrous!
”I'm not afraid anymore,” she whispered to Lydia as they pa.s.sed beneath the chandelier. ”Anyone who must try with such dedication to impress his guests cannot be anything other than terrified that he will not measure up to whatever is expected of him. Poor man.”
Lydia leaned close to whisper. ”That poor man is one day to be George the Fourth, King of England. And you pity him?”
”Yes. He is probably much like my aunt Mimi. So very concerned with all that is outside of her, so that no one will notice that there is very little inside of her.”
”No wonder Justin loves you. And you will balance his cynicism for his fellow man with your compa.s.sionate heart.”
”No, it is all of you who are so compa.s.sionate, so extraordinarily kind. The Prince Regent could very easily take you all in disfavor for what you're doing tonight.”
”We've already discussed this, haven't we? We'd be very poor friends if we did not support Justin now. We're prepared for the prince's punishment, and even more certain there will be one. We'll survive it, knowing we've done the right thing.” She squeezed Alina's gloved hand. ”Now, are you ready? We're next to be announced. Thank goodness they limit the introduction to only the most senior t.i.tles, or we'd have another five minutes ahead of us to get through.”
Alina took a deep breath, then nodded. She only flinched the first time one of the pair of liveried footman-were they twins? did it matter?-rapped the bottom of his staff sharply against the marble floor and announced in a near bellow, ”Your Royal Highnesses! The Duke and d.u.c.h.ess of Ashurst!”