Chapter Thirty-Six
A deline fidgeted with her handkerchief as she listened to Lucy’s butler greet her mother and brother in the front hall. She had asked Lucy to invite them to tea in order to be able to see them without alerting her father she was in town. With Malcolm being detained and Hartwick waiting for an answer to his letter to the king, Adeline wanted to keep as low a profile as possible.
“Don’t worry,” Lucy murmured. Her friend rose with a bright smile as Adeline’s family entered the drawing room.
“Adeline!” Her mother rushed over.
Adeline rose and accepted her mother’s embrace. Her hug was such a comfort that Adeline almost burst into tears. “Thank you for coming.”
George was next to embrace her. “Adeline, you are supposed to be at Millstone. What are you doing here?”
“Sit. There is much to tell,” Adeline said.
George looked so improved. The bruising along his jaw was yellow and fading. Though, his arm was still in a sling.
Lucy poured tea for everyone while Adeline told her family about how she had left with Kingsbury and taken the artifacts with her.
“Good Lord, Addy. No wonder Father was interrogating me about where you had gone. I told him I sent you to Millstone and wouldn’t allow him to marry you off to Bellamy. Mother and I have been trying to avoid him as much as humanly possible. It’s like he has lost his mind. Pacing, cursing, yelling at the servants for no reason.”
“It is because he owes a great sum to those men who beat you. Then Bellamy offered to pay it off for my hand. But the real villainy goes far deeper. Those items were stolen from a prominent Greek statesman. Kingsbury was assigned to find the missing items and find out who arranged the theft. He overheard Father and Bellamy discussing it all, including the transaction for my hand at the Janson ball.”
George ran a hand through his hair. “I was afraid of this. Kingsbury asked me about the artifacts that morning after the ball. I didn’t know what to make of it all, but I did know you needed to get out of town.”
Adeline looked over at her mother, who had been very quiet. “Father sent three thugs after me. I was attacked in one of the villages we stopped at along the way. They wanted me to return with them, and they wanted the artifacts.”
“Did they hurt you?” her mother asked quietly.
Adeline shook her head. “A stranger intervened, and Kingsbury also came to my rescue. He decided to change our destination. We headed south to his estate in Dorset. That is where I have been for the last week.”
“Are you ruined?”
“Mother?!” George exclaimed.
“No, Mother.” Adeline met her mother’s gaze. “I am revealed. I am seen. I am loved. Kingsbury is the man for me.”
“As long as he marries you.”
George looked askance at their mother. Then he turned back to Adeline. “When I asked him to escort you to Millstone, he told me he intended to make you his. I’m sure he plans to marry you. He is a good man.”
“I know. But at the moment, he is in trouble. We returned because news reached us that Malcolm’s superior had been murdered. Shot through the heart. When Malcolm went to Whitehall to brief the new admiral, he was accused of stealing the artifacts, and he is currently being detained in a cell at the Admiralty.”
Adeline worried as she looked at her mother, who sat glassy-eyed and staring off at a point in the distance. Was she so shocked by the turn of events so far that she had already begun to retreat mentally? “Mother, are you all right?”
Her mother’s gaze snapped back to Adeline. “Yes, I can tell there is more. Tell us the worst of it.”
“Bellamy wanted the shipment of artifacts because within it was a statue that held a secret. A list of names we think might be British operatives working inside the Ottoman Empire. Bellamy was playing both sides of this war. I don’t know whether Father was aware of the treason or simply in it for the money; regardless, this will cause a huge scandal when it breaks. I plan to go to the king with what I know to exonerate Kingsbury. I won’t allow him to stand trial for something Father did.”
Both George and her mother were silent for several long moments. Adeline exchanged a look with Lucy, who had sat silently this whole time.
But now Lucy spoke. “There is more.”
“More?” George’s eyebrows rose.
Lucy nodded. “Lord Rawlings was the one who hired the men that attacked my husband and Lord Galey last year. He is responsible for Lord Galey’s death and Hartwick’s injuries.”
Adeline met her brother’s shocked gaze. “It’s true. I overheard the conversation between him and the men he hired several weeks ago. I believe these are the same men who beat you as a warning for Father to pay up.”
George leaned forward and laid his head in his hands. “Dear Lord,” he muttered.
Adeline’s mother stood. She reached out and grasped George’s chin and lifted his head. Then she took Adeline’s chin in the other hand. “Unlike you so succinctly described Lord Kingsbury, your father has never been a good man. Repercussions for his actions will be demanded.” She glanced over at Lucy, who nodded. “Scandal will be inevitable, but we will weather it because the three of us have each other. My babies, don’t worry about me, do what you must. I love you both.”
*
Adeline followed Lieutenant Trent down the stairs. She wrung her gloves between her hands, her impatience to see Malcolm making her nerves jangle. Next to her, Lord Hartwick’s walking stick clicked on each stair as they descended to the basement level.
At the next landing, he put a hand on hers. “Almost there,” he murmured.
It couldn’t be soon enough. It had taken four long days to get an audience with the king. There had been no way to get information about Malcolm during those days. Lieutenant Trent had tried but was blocked from seeing him. Today, everything had moved quickly. It was amazing how fast things could get done at an order from his majesty. Her father and Bellamy had both been taken into custody. Her father had to be pulled forcefully from the house, shouting and struggling, by soldiers. It had made a horrible scene on the square. Both men had been taken to the Tower of London. At the order of the king, Bellamy would be hanged for treason. Her father was to stand trial for the murder of Lord Galey and the attempted murder of Lord Hartwick.
But she couldn’t think about that now. Now, she needed to make it down these endless stairs and into Malcolm’s arms. They finally descended to the bottom. A long hallway stretched out in front of them. Iron sconces barely lit the dim corridor. Lieutenant Trent handed a piece of paper to the guard on duty.
The guard scanned it and handed it back. “This way. He is the second door on the right.”
She bounced on her toes as the door was unlocked. The door opened, and bright afternoon sunshine streamed into her eyes from a small, barred window on the opposite wall. Adeline blinked, searching for Malcolm. She looked around anxiously and then spotted him lying on the floor. He was still as death. Oh God.
Adeline rushed to him. Falling to her knees, she stroked his cheek. “Malcolm, wake up, love.”
His eyes cracked open. He blinked, but there was no recognition in his gaze. She ran her hand over his forehead, temples, and down his throat. He didn’t feel overly warm to the touch.
“Has he been sick?” she demanded to know.
“No, I don’t think so. He’s been refusing to eat or drink,” the guard replied.
“For how long?”
The man shrugged. “Three or four days maybe.”
Trent rounded on the guard. “Is this how we treat our fellow servicemen?”
“This is how we treat our inmates.” The guard sneered. Then took a step backward as Trent crowded him against the wall with his bulk.
“This man was detained for a crime he didn’t commit. This writ from the crown exonerates him. And you almost let him die. Get out of here!” He pointed to the door.
Hartwick crouched next to her. “He is weak from dehydration, but he will recover. Let us get him out of here.”
“Malcolm, love. It’s me. Can you get up?” She stroked his face again.
This time, when he opened his eyes, she saw recognition.
His hand lifted, and he touched her cheek. “Adeline,” he croaked. Then his eyelids fluttered closed.
“I’ve got him,” Trent said.
She and Hartwick moved out of the way.
Trent scooped Malcolm up into his arms. “I’m so sorry, sir, I had no idea they would ambush you like that.”
Adeline looked up at the lieutenant. “You couldn’t have known that Admiral Garrison was so easily bribed. Please, let’s leave this place.”
Trent nodded and strode carefully through the door with Malcolm. Hartwick was next. Adeline gave the cell one last look and noticed a drawing etched into the wall below the window. She crossed to look closer. Her heart clenched as she ran her fingers over a precise depiction of the North Star.