Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
“It’s a pity Daniel could not join us this morning,” Daphne remarked as she poured tea into her cup.
The following morning, the grandeur of the previous night all but faded into grey. Guests gathered for one last breakfast, although a few had already left home the night before.
One thing was for certain: there would be a massive exodus back to London later. The Redmoor ball was a success.
Lucy would rather be anywhere than there. She could barely eat the bread and butter in front of her, much less the various pastries served with eggs and milk. Her mind was still running through the events of the night before.
Not the music. Not the dance.
She thought more of her encounter with Daniel and how she had navigated that secret passage to get back to the party without being noticed.
She sat next to her brother, as usual, and she knew her life would be back to how it was—dreary and restricted.
She did entertain herself by glancing at the doorway whenever she thought Joshua was not watching to see if a certain tall man with broad shoulders would pass by.
She kept her expression unreadable, hoping that she would be able to look at him with polite indifference, although just the thought of him made her body heat up.
All of Lucy’s hopes were dashed. Her hand faltered, and her spoon fell into her bowl, which was thankfully full of porridge.
“Stonewynn left?” Joshua asked, wearing the same mask of polite indifference his sister had been trying to master earlier.
“Yes, our dear brother left at dawn,” Victoria confirmed. Interestingly, her expression was also neutral.
Everyone knew that the Duchess of Hawksford was not the sort of woman who would do that. She was always unafraid to express her feelings, everyone else be damned. Was she hiding something? Was Daniel hiding something?
“It’s, uh, a matter of business. Once Daniel has a task in mind, he wants to start on it as early as he can.”
Lucy’s stomach sank. She knew she should not have gotten her hopes up. Daniel was a duke. Why would he give her, a spinster prone to wearing dowdy clothes, any attention at all?
She should be thankful that he had helped her find a way out of last night’s predicament. It could have turned into a scandal, and Daniel would have been able to get away with it unscathed, while her reputation would have been ruined.
If he ever offered marriage, she could not, in good conscience, accept. She would have to banish herself. A life in a convent was preferable to living with Joshua for a few more years.
Two days later, Daniel was inhaling coal smoke in London.
He supposed he should not mind. The whole atmosphere matched his mood.
He didn’t like the fact that he had to leave Redmoor so urgently, but he didn’t have a choice.
The mystery of Moses Gordon and the fire still held him hostage.
There was no moving forward until he solved it.
Adrian stood with him. He looked out of place, with his fine wool coat, but his demeanor would make anyone reconsider. After all, he used to deal with the underground despite his title.
Silas, his contact, stood across from them. He was small and dressed in rags, but there was something about him. Something sharp. This man could possibly fit himself into tight spaces if he had to. To save himself or to spy on others.
Daniel knew what he had to do. He pulled a leather pouch from his pocket, letting the gold coins clink.
Temptation, that was what it was, and he held it in his hand. He would not hesitate to pay for information and, eventually, for justice.
“I want to know everything that happens in Warehouse fourteen. The activities. The people involved. We also need to know the times they usually come and go. Of course, Moses Gordon is at the heart of this investigation. We need to know who he meets when it gets dark. If a marked carriage comes, I also need to know. We may find out Gordon’s benefactor. ”
Silas looked at him with his flinty eyes. After a beat, he took the pouch and gave Daniel a curt bow. Then, he wordlessly disappeared into the fog. Adrian had said that the man might look like that, but he was reliable. At the right price, of course.
“Do you understand that you are playing a dangerous game, Daniel?” Adrian asked, before taking a deep breath.
“You are dealing with thugs. I’ve left this lifestyle a long time ago because I want to live in peace with your sister.
Now, you are embracing it. Gordon won’t be easy to catch. He is a professional.”
“Let him try to escape me once more,” Daniel growled.
“I need to know what he knows. While he may have set the place on fire, he would not have done it without receiving payment. I want to know who ordered the killing of my uncle and my cousin. I will not rest until I have my hands around his neck.”
He could sense Adrian looking at him with concern. He tried to ignore him. There were things that others might not understand, or they did, but they also understood the dangers that came with his plan.
“And what about Lady Lucy? You’ve not mentioned her name since we left Redmoor Hall. Did you at least send her a note? Ah, I can tell you have not. You should have at least asked Daphne how she was faring.”
There was a reason Daniel did not mention Lucy’s name. In that instant, the memory of her scent, her body heat, and the desperation between them hit him like a physical blow. He could not linger.
No, he could not.
“I don’t have time for anything else, Adrian. Time is of the essence. I may lose the trail toward the murderer.”
“Be that as it may,” Adrian countered, “you are also using this hunt for your relatives’ killer as a shield. You know that acknowledging her is also another kind of danger.”
To his pledge. To his heart. Yes. Several thousand times, yes.
“I am protecting her,” Daniel insisted. He then clamped his mouth shut so hard he wondered if he would ever speak again.
The feeling came with violent intensity. He imagined Moses Gordon and his men tracking Lucy. No, he could not have that. She still had time to pin her hopes on someone else. She could still find someone to marry.
A lump formed in his throat.
“My life is full of fire and dark alleys at the moment. Lucy? She still has a chance to grasp at the light. I can’t drag her into a danger that would ensnare her. That would make me selfish. I also don’t know if she has any regard for me other than curiosity.”
“Guilt is certainly difficult to live with,” Adrian acknowledged. “Don’t drown in it. You still have a life. You are still young. Vengeance cannot be your ultimate purpose.”
Daniel did not respond to that.
Lucy had stayed inside Marsleigh House for a full week. She let its invisible vines coil around her, suffocating her.
Suddenly, her drab dresses felt appropriate. When Joshua left for his gentlemen’s club, she at least had a bit of freedom. Some air to breathe.
Victoria, concerned about her, came to visit. Her arrival was noisy and fussy, and Lucy suspected it was how her friend wanted it to be to wake her up.
“Lucy! It feels like a tomb in here!” Victoria complained, bursting into the drawing room as if she owned it.
Lucy did not mind. It was the way Victoria was—honest and a little loud. She didn’t change even after she married.
Victoria threw her gloves on the table in front of Lucy and started pacing back and forth. Eventually, she looked at Lucy’s pale face.
“Why do you look like you are waiting for your executioner?”
Both women sank onto the sofa. Lucy’s fingers trembled when she poured tea for herself and her friend.
“I—I am just tired.”
“Nonsense. You have been home for a whole week,” Victoria scolded. “Something must have happened during my sister’s ball. Or rather, her husband’s ball. He was so ecstatic about every aspect of it being Scottish. I hope it’s not something a certain brother of mine did.”
Lucy hesitated. She should keep what had happened secret. It looked like Daphne had kept quiet about it. Why could she not? Well, perhaps because she felt burdened by it all. She wanted to tell someone. She wanted to have her friend’s view on the matter, even if it would hurt more.
“Well, something did happen,” she began hesitantly.
“I knew it!” Victoria exclaimed, swinging her arm with satisfaction. “What happened exactly?”
She leaned closer to Lucy, her eyes curious.
“Daniel and I… Well… We, erm, shared a kiss,” Lucy confessed, feeling her cheeks warm. “A kiss.”
She hoped that her friend would not think she was taking advantage of their friendship.
Victoria seemed a little shaken. Her cup clattered against its saucer. Thankfully, she was not holding it high.
“Daniel? My brother? You’re talking about a man who regards everything like a chess match. The man who has bedded so many women but refused to kiss them on the mouth? Don’t ask how I know that,” she said, shuddering. “B-but that man—my brother—he kissed you?”
Lucy had heard rumors about Daniel, but had never really considered them until now. His own sister just told her what he was like. It struck something within her.
She could not complain, though. Whether or not the rumors were true, he would never marry her.
“I-it was more than a chaste kiss,” she whispered, as shame came over her.
How could she let him? He was a rake, wasn’t he?
“What a scoundrel!” Victoria snapped, no longer caring if anyone else heard.
“How could he do that? Lead you on, and then flee to London before breakfast without leaving word. I will certainly have a word with him. I will march into his house right now and give him a piece of my mind. Several pieces, in fact.”
“No!” Lucy cried, reaching for her friend’s hand. “Please, promise you won’t confront him. It will make things worse. Let things flow as they would, naturally. More likely, nothing would come of it.”
Her throat felt raw as soon as she said that. She believed it, but it wasn’t what she wanted to believe.
“I don’t want to sow discord between siblings. At least, that is what I am certain of,” she added.
Victoria took a long, deep breath and folded her arms across her chest. She huffed in frustration.
“All right,” she relented. “I wish I could do something, but I can still say that he’s an idiot. He can be stubborn and thick-headed.” Then, she looked at Lucy, who was still red in the face. Her eyes softened. “But how was it? I am assuming it was your first kiss?”
Lucy bit her lip. Even though she had promised herself to look nonchalant, she could not help but smile as the memory of Daniel’s lips on hers came back in full strength.
“It was amazing,” she breathed. “I did not know a kiss could feel like that. No wonder so many people risk scandal for it.”
“Ugh.” Victoria scrunched up her face in disgust. “He is my brother. I am trying to be a friend to you, but I must scrub the image of Daniel being an amazing kisser from my mind. It may be good for the baby and me since it will reduce my appetite for more sweets.”
Lucy laughed at that. She wished she and Joshua had an easy relationship like the one the Brighton siblings had.
“I am sorry, Vicky,” she murmured. “I will stop. There’s nothing much more to say anyway. That is the extent of it, and it ends there.”
“There is something that you should know and consider, though, Lucy,” Victoria said earnestly. “If my brother weren’t involved, I would have told you that you should follow your heart. But perhaps you should consider that advice anyway…”