Eight Hunting Lyons (The Lyon’s Den Connected World)

Chapter Nineteen

T he viscount and viscountess rose from the table. His brother and Coventry quickly followed suit.

Gemma hurried over to their housekeeper. “Thank you for a lovely meal, Mrs. Pritchard.”

The housekeeper smiled. “Cook was the one who deserves the credit, your ladyship. Orchestrating how the table was set, and the meal served, was my part. We wanted your first meal as viscount and viscountess to be one you would remember.”

“My thanks, Mrs. Pritchard,” the viscount replied. “Please let Cook know how pleased we were with the meal. I shall make a point to introduce Gemma to her later.”

“Of course, your lordship.”

He nodded and turned to the men who’d flanked his wife. He felt his stomach clench at the news he had to impart to Gemma. He hoped she was as stout of heart as she seemed to be when he’d rushed to her finding her with her back to the wall bravely facing Harkwell with her grandfather’s dueling pistol to the man’s gut.

“The library.”

Viscount Moreland caught the hint of worry in his wife’s gaze but ignored it in favor of getting behind closed doors as swiftly as possible. He’d let Coventry share the tale he had to tell. Had it only been a few hours since the man had departed with Gavin King to question Harkwell?

Edmund closed the library door behind the group and resumed his position beside Gemma. The viscount could not hold back his smile. Whether she realized it or not, she had the protection of the Broadbank brothers. Their combined strength and cunning would prevent those who sought to do her harm from getting close to her. He would introduce her to King’s men after they’d heard Coventry out.

Captain Coventry sighed. “Shall you tell her, your lordship, or should I?”

Viscount Moreland grumbled, “We’ve been friends for nearly a decade. Is my title going to sever that friendship?”

Coventry smiled. “Hardly, your lordship.”

“Colin,” he stated through clenched teeth. “Moreland, or Broadbank, if you prefer. I’ll not let a bloody title dictate the way my friends address me.”

Edmund swallowed his chuckle as Gemma’s eyes widened at his words. His brother cleared his throat and bade Gemma not to worry. “Part and parcel of being descended from a long line of arrogant, outspoken Broadbank men,” he began, “is to accustom yourself to their propensity to order others around while ignoring the dictates of society.”

Her eyes softened at Edmund’s words, and her gaze sought that of her husband. He nodded to her. “Just so.”

“Are you through with your posturing, Viscount Moreland?”

Gemma’s gasp had him closing his eyes and turning to glare at his friend. “If you did not bear urgent news, we’d be discussing this somewhere private.”

“Where no one could observe the two of you pounding on one another,” Edmund added.

“Oh, please, your lordship—”

“Blast it, Gemma! My name is Colin!”

“I am well aware of that. However, in order to become accustomed to addressing you as such in public, I need to practice in private. I do not intend to misstep and use your given name in public. I would not willingly do anything to bring censure upon you or your family.”

He was at her side in two strides. She was flush against him in a heartbeat. “ You are my family, Gemma.”

His insistent tone and the reality of his words arrowed through her, easing the worst of the knots in her belly. Worry no longer had her in its grip waiting to hear whatever dire news Coventry brought with him. She brushed the tips of her fingers along the taut line of his jaw. “As you are now mine, Colin.”

She lifted to her toes and he met her halfway, pressing a swift, but potent kiss to her lips.

“Now that we have cleared that up,” Coventry said, “I have news to share with your ladyship that I fear may not be well received.”

Gemma glanced over her shoulder to the Duke of Wyndmere’s London man-of-affairs from the shelter of her husband’s arms. Turning so that her back was against the breadth of his chest, she leaned against him. When Colin wrapped his arms around her waist, nestling her more firmly against him, she was ready. “Do not worry on my account,” she assured him. “I have the finest of protectors—my husband has my back, while my brother-in-law stands at-the-ready to lend his aid.”

With a solemn nod, Coventry relayed his news. “I’ve made inquiries on your behalf at the behest of your husband.”

She stiffened. “I see.”

The viscount leaned down to rasp, “Do not get your back up yet, Gemma. Hear him out.”

She relaxed against him. “Of course.” She felt rather than saw him nod to Coventry.

“Your brother has been located—”

“You’ve found Simon? Thank God!” she gushed. “Have you spoken to him, when can I see him?”

Coventry cleared his throat. “He’s been pressed.”

She froze. She’d heard the term before and knew it involved a group of rather large, persuasive men roaming from the docks to the underbelly of London, looking for likely targets—men who appeared to be strong and in good health…and most likely in a state where they were easily convinced to go with the press gang.

What of her younger brother’s plans? Why had he tossed them all away? Had he been coherent at the time he was pressed?

She shoved out of the viscount’s arms and spun around to glare at him. “Why is he in His Majesty’s Navy? He wanted to join a regiment! He was planning to buy his colors when he turned eighteen.”

Coventry sighed. “You must understand, your ladyship, a fair number of many a captain’s crew find themselves on board ship, quill in hand, signing on, ready to serve once they become used to the idea.”

“But—”

“I’m sorry the news distresses you, your ladyship. But you should know that finding himself pressed into service, your brother voluntarily signed on board the HMS Queen Charlotte .”

“A relatively new ship of the line,” her husband added. “Do not fret for your brother, Gemma. The sea will make a man out of him.”

Her mouth fell open and, for a moment, she was speechless before she gathered her thoughts and bit out, “You do not even know my brother! How can you blithely make such an assumption?”

Viscount Moreland straightened to his full height, but his attempt to intimidate her did not succeed.

“Well? Are you going to go down to the docks and plead with the captain of the Queen Charlotte to release my brother?”

His eyes blazed with fire, but the heat in his gaze did not affect the tone of his voice as he calmly replied, “No.”

She sputtered, “No?”

“Ah,” he said with a slight inclination of his head. “Excellent. For a moment, I thought you misunderstood.” He reached for her hand and bowed over it. “If you’ll excuse me. I must have a private word with Coventry.”

“I…well…are you—” she was speaking to her husband’s back as he quit the room, Coventry in his wake.

“He means well,” Edmund said. “You must realize that once a man has signed on to a ship, he is obligated to serve.”

Hand to her throat, she replayed the conversation in her head. “Why won’t he help my brother? Is there nothing that can be done?”

“You must understand, your ladyship, that your brother willingly volunteered—”

“After he was pressed!”

“Be that as it may, his signature is binding. He would have been made aware of what his options were, and he chose to volunteer.”

Tears clogging her throat, she managed, “Colin would be going against the rules if he were to interfere on my brother’s behalf?”

He nodded. “The Admiralty, and before you ask, my brother would never go against the institution he has spent half of his life upholding.”

“I see.” And she did, although she wished something could be done. “At least he’s away from Father’s tentacles.” Her eyes widened as she realized she’d uttered something best kept to herself.

Her brother-in-law waited for her to continue. Instead, she drew in a deep breath and summoned a smile to convince him she’d accepted her husband’s decision. “Thank you for your explanation, Edmund. I’m grateful to you.”

“I do hate to ask,” he began, “but as my brother is a stickler for the rules he has embraced, would you give your word that you will not interfere where your brother is concerned?”

Her eyes narrowed at the man she’d been grateful to a moment before. “How in the world could I possibly accomplish that?”

He shook his head. “You best be prepared to answer the extensive list of questions my brother will no doubt be preparing to batter you with.”

“Batter?”

Her brother-in-law hesitated. “Poor choice of words, your ladyship.”

“I beg your pardon, your ladyship.” Her lady’s maid rushed forward and curtseyed. Bobbing back up, she explained, “His lordship has asked that I accompany you to your new chambers.”

A bit confused, given the worry over her brother’s situation, she asked, “What is wrong with where I stayed last night?”

Edmund’s deep chuckle seemed overly loud in the vast room. When she turned around to meet his gaze, his eyes danced in merriment. “There is something missing from your bedchamber.”

“It was most comfortable,” she assured him, not wanting him to think she’d found their hospitality lacking. “I cannot think of anything missing.”

“It would seem you have forgotten that you are married, Gemma.”

She whirled around, affected by the movement and her husband standing before her, staring at her as if she were a sweet confection about to be devoured. Her belly clutched and her heart picked up the beat. “I assure you, I have not forgotten.”

“Ah.” He strode over to where she stood, as if transfixed by the sight of him. Testing that thought, he reached out to brush an errant midnight curl from her lashes. “Then it is merely your good fortune having married me that has you neglecting to surmise that your things have already been moved into my rooms?”

He watched her eyes widen in shock before color spread from her neck to her forehead, washing her cream-colored skin a delicate rose. “I…uh…had not thought that far ahead, your lordship.”

“Colin,” he corrected. “Then it is not an aversion to being alone with me?”

His question had her cheeks burning a bright red. Temper or embarrassment?

“Certainly not!” she declared.

“Temper,” he whispered so only she could hear.

“I beg your pardon?”

He leaned down to brush his lips to her forehead. “No need,” he assured her. “All is forgiven. Go with Lettie, love. If there is anything at all that you require, you have but to ask and it shall be done.”

Her peat-brown eyes filled, but before he could react, she blinked them clear. “You have been most kind, Colin.” She met his gaze full-on. “I am certain there is nothing I could want, thank you for thinking of me.”

“Ah, Lass,” he sighed. “As long as I live and breathe, you shall be at the forefront of my thoughts.”

She surprised him by stretching up on her toes to brush a swift, and highly unsatisfying, kiss to his jaw. “Thank you.”

Before he could grab hold of her, she’d slipped past him and was standing in the doorway with her maid. “Will you be gone long?”

He frowned. “Why the devil would you assume I am going anywhere?”

She smiled slowly, and he could not help but note the way it lit her features, until her inner beauty rivaled what was already visible for all to see. “You’ve yet to discuss what your earlier meeting with Captain Coventry and Mr. King was about. Therefore, I assume you have something quite pressing that requires your immediate attention.”

He felt his jaw go slack as he struggled with the fact that she knew about the earlier meeting. “As a matter of fact, my love, there is.”

It was her turn to frown. “When do you expect to return?”

He glanced at his brother, who shrugged. “I may not return for a few hours. Do not hold supper for me.”

The confusion mixed with hurt in her eyes bothered him, but that damned wager in White’s betting book took precedence over her feelings. Confident he could settle her ruffled feathers upon his return, he nodded to her and turned his back.

If he spent another moment, her gaze locked with his, he’d capitulate and for the first time in too many years to count, would explain what he was doing and why.

It would be a cold day in hell before that happened. He waited a few moments for the blank look to leave his brother’s face and irritation to fill it. “She’s gone, then.”

“Shouldn’t you be concerned that she may bar you from your chambers?”

Colin chuckled. “The lass has fallen under my spell and cannot resist me.”

Edmund laughed aloud.

Colin added, “I am an excellent judge of character, especially when the woman in question is all but melting against me after I’ve kissed the breath from her.”

His brother’s lips twisted into a wry smile. “It is good to know you have not lost your touch.”

In answer, he shoved his shoulder into Edmund’s. “You’ll guard her with your life?”

“You doubt that I would?”

Colin shook his head. “Nay. It’s a bit overwhelming, this need to protect my wife, knowing someone is already trying to discredit her virtue.”

His brother’s jaw tightened as a dark look filled his eyes. “I’d rather be on hand when you mete out his punishment.”

The viscount sighed. “First, Coventry and I are going to see the proof Garahan’s connection alerted him to.” Their gazes met and held. “And then we shall flesh out our plan for retribution.”

“How will that be possible if he is detained on Bow Street?” Edmund wanted to know.

“He is a member of the ton , and no doubt has connections that would see to it that he is not detained there for long.”

“Will his connections prove more advantageous than ours?”

Colin smiled. “With the Duke of Wyndmere in our corner, I highly doubt it.”

As they walked to the door, Edmund reminded him, “You did not introduce Thompson and Franklin to Gemma.”

“Do it for me, would you? But closer to teatime. I’ve already asked that Mrs. Pritchard have my viscountess served tea in the yellow sitting room facing the walled gardens.”

“You’re expecting guests this afternoon? Won’t that strike your viscountess as a bit odd?”

Colin stared at his brother, finally asking, “Why would it?”

Edmund sighed. “I’ve had a few acquaintances marry and disappear for at least a week afterward.”

“Now that, I find odd,” the viscount admitted. “Just because you marry doesn’t seem reason enough to shirk your duties and obligations, does it?”

His brother chuckled. “It would seem to me that as the new Viscount Moreland you have another duty to take care of—one that ensures the line and title continues.”

Colin gave it no more thought than he deemed necessary. There were far greater matters to take care of before he got down to the business of begetting heirs. Pressed for time, he told his brother, “Earl Lippincott and his countess are in town for a fortnight and staying at his brother, the duke’s town house.”

“I had no idea you were acquainted with the earl and his wife.”

The viscount frowned. “I’m not yet. Coventry has sent word to the earl and has assured me that Edward and Aurelia will be more than willing to lend a hand to anyone who is a friend of Coventry’s.”

“Coventry has far-reaching connections, doesn’t he?”

Colin agreed. “His friendships, once made, last a lifetime. They will be bringing Coventry’s new wife and her son to meet Gemma as well.”

“Given the captain’s line of work in the duke’s employ, and the new business venture I overheard you two discussing, I would have thought he’d remain single.”

“Did anyone else overhear our conversation?”

“I doubt it,” his brother said with a grin. “I had to strain to lean close enough to hear through the alley window.”

“We shall have to find a more suitable place to meet and discuss private matters. We cannot afford to have our conversations overheard again.”

His brother frowned. “Do you doubt my ability to remain silent?”

“No.”

“Well that, at least, is something. Now, about your visitors. Do I need to explain anything to Gemma?”

“It might ease her mind and reticence meeting the earl and his wife. They are known about society as sticklers for not giving any credence to whatever on dits happen to be circulating through the ton .”

“Anything else?”

“They are expecting their firstborn and the countess tires easily.”

“What about the captain’s wife and son?”

Colin smiled. “From what I’ve pried from Coventry’s lips, he’d been tasked with watching over a fellow seaman’s wife and small son after Trafalgar .”

“So many were injured in the battle…”

“And lives lost,” Colin added. “Apparently over the last decade, the two developed feelings for one another, but kept silent.”

“Until?” Edmund asked.

“That’s a story you’ll want to hear from Michael.”

“Michael?”

Colin chuckled. “The former Widow Thompson’s son. He’s ten and three and aspires to join His Majesty’s Navy as his father before him…and his new father, Captain Gordon Coventry.”

“Does he?”

“Your lordship?” Hanson stood in the hallway, the viscount’s greatcoat, top hat, and gloves at the ready.

“Coming.” Accepting the items, he nodded and said, “Thank you, Hanson.”

“My pleasure, your lordship. The carriage is waiting.”

As the brothers walked down the length of the hall, Colin hesitated. “I hate to ask it of you, but—”

Edmund interrupted, “There is nothing I wouldn’t do for you.”

He nodded. “I don’t want Gemma to worry.”

“You might want to let her know what is happening so that she can be prepared,” his brother suggested.

“And have her go off half-cocked out to Chalk Farm with her grandfather’s dueling pistol in hand? I think not!”

“You haven’t given it back to her yet, have you?”

“I may have promised to return it to her as a wedding present.” The brothers shared a look that spoke volumes between them before Colin shrugged. “I don’t plan to give it to her anytime soon.”

“Then why promise it as a gift?”

“I intend to give it back…but not until after we settle the matter of that wager!”

“Watch your back, Brother,” Edmund called to him as he stepped up into the Moreland town carriage.

Colin glanced over his shoulder and waved. “Watch yours, Edmund, and while you’re at it—”

“I’ll watch out for Gemma’s,” his brother promised for the second time.

The coachman snapped the reins and the team of horses moved away from the curb.

Turning back to their butler who stood by the open door, Edmund smiled. “He’s already fallen in love with her, Hanson.”

Their gazes met and held. “Indeed he has, Sir.”