Chapter Eleven #3
To his dismay, that same hired hackney he had seen the other day was sitting in wait just outside of Duchess Square. Was Hawthorne in there?
“Brent, stop the carriage! I’m getting out here.”
“Aye, Mr. Knight. Is something wrong?”
“Not sure yet. Keep your weapon at hand.” He stepped down with his own pistol drawn and strode toward the hired carriage.
The driver let out a shrill whistle and then took off as soon as he noticed Gideon approaching. There did not appear to be anyone inside.
An empty carriage? A warning whistle?
Berry.
“Brent, summon Mr. Bonham and have him meet me at Lady Berry’s!”
“Yes, Mr. Knight.”
Gideon was about to pound on Berry’s front door, but Melton must have been watching, and the door opened quickly. “Mr. Knight?”
Gideon strode into the entry hall. “I won’t stay, but I need to make certain Lady Berry is all right. I saw that carriage lurking just outside the square again.”
Melton nodded and hurriedly fetched Mrs. Bolton, but Gideon dared not wait politely when Berry might be in trouble. “Berry! Berry!” he cried out, rushing up the stairs.
He realized then that he did not know which door was hers.
One to his right suddenly opened and Berry hurried through it, her golden hair tumbling over her shoulders and down her back in a magnificently wild cascade. She was clutching her robe closed, since she hadn’t the time to properly button it up. “What’s wrong? Has something happened to your house?”
He breathed a sigh of relief. “No, I was afraid something had happened to you.” He quickly explained about the hired carriage at the entrance to Duchess Square. “The driver whistled as a warning to someone and then raced away.”
“Oh, I see.”
“Are you all right?”
She nodded.
He marched into her bedchamber and strode to the window to peer down into the garden below.
She followed his movements. “Do you think someone was trying to break in here?”
“Yes, it is quite possible. I’m going to check outside your window.
That driver was definitely acting as lookout for someone.
And when I say someone, I mean Hawthorne.
There’s a trellis along the back wall of your house, and it leads straight up to your room.
I’m going to climb it. Do not be alarmed if I peer into your bedchamber. ”
Mrs. Bolton rushed in and her eyes widened upon her catching sight of him. “Mr. Knight! You cannot be in here!”
“It is all right, Mrs. Bolton,” Berry said. “He is not trying to peep at me, but he was worried Lord Hawthorne might have been attempting something improper.”
“Such as breaking into your bedchamber? Or abducting you?” Mrs. Bolton asked, noticing Gideon’s attention on the window frame.
“Have you found something?” Berry asked.
“No…maybe. I just want to make certain the latch isn’t damaged.”
Berry drew her robe a little tighter around her body. “Which would indicate someone was trying to break in?”
He nodded. “I’ll have a closer look outside.”
Bonham ran over just as Gideon came out of the house. “What happened?”
“I think Hawthorne was here. Did you notice anyone hopping over the wall or darting toward the mews?”
“No, sorry. I was talking to the painters as they set up for the day.”
“Check out Lady Miranda’s rear garden, and Lady Gwendolyn’s, too. It cannot hurt to be thorough, although I’m sure Hawthorne has run off already. He must have had a prearranged pick-up location in the event he or his carriage were spotted here.”
“Got it.”
While Bonham ran off to check the other houses, Gideon strode into Berry’s garden and looked for fresh footprints in the soil. It worried him when he found several. But they were smudged, so he could not tell if they were made by one man or two.
Hawthorne and an accomplice?
He slowly climbed the trellis and found a bit of cloth caught on an edge at one of the spots where the trellis connected to the masonry. It was only a tiny shred, so he could not tell if the color was a dark blue or a black.
Berry was good with colors and might be able to tell him.
When he reached her window, he rapped lightly against the pane to alert her that he was there.
Not that he expected her to forget and begin to disrobe. Ah, his eyeballs would never recover from the sight of her shedding her nightclothes.
Well, she wasn’t undressing. He ought to have known better than to allow his thoughts to drift in that direction. But to his concern, he could not see her in the bedchamber.
Had she stepped out?
He returned his attention to the possible intruder and saw scratches and chipped wood along the window latch.
Dear heaven.
That toad really had tried to abduct Berry. Or perhaps he merely thought to break into her bedchamber and impose himself on her.
Gideon cursed himself for a fool. While he had been off having unmentionable dreams about Berry, Hawthorne had actually been trying to grab and defile her.
He glanced up at the heavens, thankful that Hawthorne had failed. What would he try next?
The Bow Street Runners would soon be on the trail of that wastrel lord, perhaps starting tomorrow. In the meanwhile, Gideon was not going to leave her side.
A sharp rap on the window startled him out of his thoughts and almost had him tumbling off the trellis.
Berry’s lovely face stared back at him.
Big eyes. Big smile.
She opened the window. “What have you found?”
“Someone tried to break your window latch.”
“Oh dear. Did you find anything more?”
He nodded.
She reached out to take him by the arms. “Climb inside and tell me.”
He laughed. “That’s going to raise eyebrows. A man seen climbing into your bedchamber?”
“I did not mean it that way. Isn’t it safer than climbing down that flimsy trellis?”
“No,” he said with a groaning laugh, for he was going to kiss her if she did not move her face away from his. “Get dressed and come downstairs. I’ll meet you in your parlor.”
“All right. Watch your fingers. I’m going to lower the window.”
She did not bother to dress, and instead came scurrying down the stairs just as Melton let him back in.
Her robe was held in place by a belt hastily tied around her trim waist, and none of the buttons were done up.
Her hair remained long and loose, a bit of a wild mess that he thought looked exquisite on her.
“Well? What have you to report?” she asked.
“Melton, summon Mrs. Bolton and join us. You both need to hear this.”
“At once, Mr. Knight.”
Gideon found himself momentarily alone with Berry as he led her into the parlor. She took a seat on the delicate silk settee and looked up at him in that typically beautiful way she had of opening his heart. He found it hard to tear his gaze away from her.
Why could he not have been born respectable? He would kiss the ground before him and count his blessings hourly if ever he were allowed to wake up to the sight of her each morning. Big, sleepy eyes. Full, blushing lips. Bosom unbound by a corset. Strawberry-tinged golden hair.
He tried to remain outwardly calm. Inside, he was a screaming ape.
Her housekeeper and head butler rushed in.
“There were footprints made recently at the base of the trellis,” Gideon began to explain. “Perhaps made less than an hour ago, because those impressions were left in the grass after the dew had formed. I also found this trace of cloth, like a scrap of a jacket or cape.”
He showed it to Berry.
“Oh, dark blue,” she said, holding it up to the sunlight. “I suppose it is a common enough color for a man’s attire. I know Lord Hawthorne was wearing a jacket in this exact shade of blue the other day.”
“There are also scratches along the windowsill and glass panes, and the latch on your window is broken and will need to be replaced.” He frowned. “I’ll send over one of my carpenters to repair it today. Did you hear anything last night? Or early this morning?”
Berry shook her head. “I had a headache, so I took a sleeping powder, which is why I am still drowsy this morning. It was such a stupid thing to do, I realize now. I rarely ever take anything to put me to sleep, but my mind has been racing and my head hurt. I did not expect Lord Hawthorne to try anything so soon after the incident at the museum.”
“He knows his time is running out, and he hasn’t a moment to lose. Mr. Barrow will soon be on the task and foil his efforts. Until then, you must all keep alert.”
Mrs. Bolton and Melton assured him they would.
Gideon turned back to Berry. “I’m going to stay close to you for the rest of the day. All right?”
She nodded.
“I’ll relieve Bonham tonight, let him handle our business affairs while I remain here to guard my house overnight. Of course, I’ll mostly be keeping an eye on yours.”
Berry put a hand to her throat. “It is a bit unsettling to know he was watching me and trying to break in. Even more unsettling that I did not realize it.”
Gideon nodded to acknowledge her concern. “Do you want to spend the night elsewhere? Perhaps at Lady Miranda’s or with Lord and Lady Berwick?”
She shook her head. “No, I do not wish to cause any of them trouble. I may have Harriet or Cora sleep in my room tonight. That ought to be enough to dissuade him and any of his friends who are foolish enough to go along with his schemes.”
“I’ll have the footmen armed and on watch tonight for any intruders,” Melton added.
“Just make sure they do not shoot me or Mr. Bonham,” Gideon said.
Melton nodded. “I’ll instruct them to be careful.”
“Well, I’ll leave you to ready yourself,” Gideon said to Berry. “I’ll be just next door if you need me. Otherwise, I’ll return at the appointed hour for our dance lesson. Or do you wish to postpone it?”
“Please, let us continue with the morning as planned. I rather enjoyed yesterday’s tutorial. You and Mr. Bonham are quite able students. It took me weeks to memorize the steps to the quadrille, but you picked them up with impressive speed.”
Mrs. Bolton eyed him suspiciously.
He cleared his throat. “Bonham and I might have had a few lessons from time to time, at the orphanage and at other times. And we’ve certainly seen people dancing. But you are also a very able teacher.”
“I hope so, because I would like you to stay close to me at Lord Stanhope’s ball. Will you claim me for two dances? A waltz and the supper dance?”
Gideon was pleased but surprised. “If you wish it.”
She shook her head. “I do wish it, especially if Lord Stanhope has invited Lord Hawthorne to his ball. I’ll have to make certain all my dances are claimed before he approaches me.”
“I doubt Stanhope will invite him. You’ll be safe enough once you are in his ballroom.
And I’ll keep watch over you whenever we are not dancing together.
So will Lord Berwick. And I expect Stanhope will leave strict instructions for Hawthorne to be tossed out on his ear should he be so brazen as to show up there.
In the meanwhile, you’ll have me and Lord Berwick looking out for you. Soon, the Bow Street Runners, too.”
“I do wish Mrs. Garland was feeling better. I’ve had to rely heavily on Lord and Lady Berwick to act as my chaperones lately. It is not fair to them.”
“I doubt they mind at all,” Gideon assured her. “Well, I think that is everything. Just make certain the entire staff is put on alert. I’ll return shortly.”
He left Berry’s home and met Bonham coming out of Lady Miranda’s garden. “No one’s been back here or at Lady Gwendolyn’s. You?”
Gideon told him what he’d found.
“The little toad,” Bonham said with disdain. “Glad you showed up when you did and chased him off.”
“It troubles me that he was here at all.”
“I know, but you are on to him now. His efforts will come to naught. Do you still have Henry following him?”
Gideon nodded. “But I have no idea what that lad is up to. I did not see him by that hired carriage or skulking around Berry’s home.”
Bonham sighed. “Nor did I. Henry will turn up again eventually, I suppose. I’ll ask the grooms in the mews if they noticed him this morning. And he does have weasel instincts. He knows how to squirm out of danger.”
They strode to Gideon’s home, which was a hive of activity. Men were working in almost every room, a jarring contrast to the serenity of Berry’s house.
Not only were the painters working their way through the dozens of rooms, but the old service shaft had been removed and the new one was taking up most of the hallway while waiting to be installed.
Two boys from the orphanage had become carpenters’ apprentices, and were now here with their masters trying to assemble the pulley system.
“Perhaps I ought to call on Suzanna and ask for her assistance,” Bonham grumbled as one of the pulley pieces fell to the floor with a startling clang.
Gideon eyed the scene with concern. “I won’t stop you. None of these men seem to know what they’re doing.”
“It isn’t them. I think the instructions are wrong.” Bonham rubbed a hand across the back of his neck. “Suzanna will know for certain. I might also ask her to help me with the pipe joints in the kitchen.”
Gideon winced. “Don’t tell me you’ve botched the plumbing again.”
“I haven’t botched anything,” Bonham insisted. “I have been working on some plumbing innovations and had to tear up part of the kitchen floor because of it.”
“And now you’ve reached an impasse? By all means, summon Suzanna.”
Dear heaven. Gideon hoped his precious sanctuary would not come tumbling down about his ears.
However, as important as his house was to him, Berry was far more important. It troubled him greatly that he had not seen Henry on the trail of Lord Hawthorne. True, the lad was not the most reliable. But nor was he unreliable. And as Bonham had remarked, the lad was a little weasel.
Still, he was worried.
Had Hawthorne and his friends harmed Henry? Was the poor lad lying in a ditch somewhere?
No, Henry was resourceful. He knew better than to be caught by some drunken lords.
But then, why hadn’t Gideon seen him outside of Berry’s home this morning?