Chapter Eight #2
“As I said earlier, my dear lady, I do not desire your coin. Your forgiveness and a wedding date are ample payment for me.”
A low murmur rippled through the crowded room. Snippets of all she has to do is forgive him and a June wedding would be lovely danced through the air.
Joy jumped up from her chair and shook a finger at him. “I had my reticule. Give it over to me. Now.”
Jansen stepped back from the table and lifted both hands. “My dearest, I do not have it.”
Serendipity appeared at Joy’s side and hugged her as if trying to keep her from fainting dead away. “You are causing a scene,” she whispered without moving her lips.
Jansen was thankful his hearing was impeccable, as he was able to listen in on the sisters’ conversation.
“Forgive him and promise him a date, for heaven’s sake,” Serendipity said.
“Are you in collusion with him?” Joy fixed her sister with a murderous glare. “My reticule was obviously stolen.”
“Who came close enough to steal it?” Merry asked as she and Felicity attempted to encircle Joy and block her from everyone’s stares.
“I don’t know.” Joy was close to tears. Jansen could hear it in her voice.
Just as he opened his mouth to tell her about his resident feline thief, she marched over and thumped his chest with her fist. “Fine. I forgive you.” She thumped him again.
“And we will marry once you meet Blessing, Fortuity, and Grace. If you successfully survive all the Abarough sisters, then I am yours.”
Applause filled the room.
Jansen offered his arm. “Come. Let us go to the library, where we may talk in private.”
“With us,” Serendipity said, searing him with a narrow-eyed glare.
“I would consider nothing less.” Jansen caught Aurelia’s eye and jerked his head for her to follow, then escorted Joy and her sisters to the library.
Deeply engrossed in a hand of cards, Broadmere didn’t seem to notice as they left the room.
Just as well—when Jansen confessed about Nimbus’s rather embarrassing habit, he would rather deal with the Abarough females than their haughty brother, whom he still itched to punch in the nose.
Something told him that the fifth Duke of Broadmere probably did not like cats.
“Would anyone like a brandy?” Jansen asked as the ladies filed into the room.
“Definitely,” Joy said as she seated herself in the chair closest to the fireless hearth.
“That would be lovely,” Serendipity said. Merry and Felicity each agreed with a nod.
As he was pouring, Aurelia slipped into the room.
“Ah, Aurie. It appears that Joy’s reticule has gone missing. Would you mind?” He set the six glasses of brandy on the tray and took them over to the table in front of the chair and settee where the ladies had seated themselves.
Aurelia rolled her eyes and shook her head. “I shall only be a moment.”
Before she exited the room and closed the door behind her, Jansen added, “And bring him with you, if he will cooperate, so Joy might properly be introduced.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Joy asked as Aurelia departed.
“All will be made clear momentarily.” Jansen seated himself, praying his forgiveness wouldn’t go up in smoke along with the invitation to meet her sisters to secure a wedding date. A familiar, rapid pecking on the door made him frown. Had something else gone awry this evening? “Yes?”
Severns, his butler, entered bearing an eerily familiar pair of small white envelopes. “Do forgive the interruption, sir, but these just arrived for Lady Joy and Miss Aurelia. The veiled woman delivering them stressed that they were quite urgent.”
“A veiled woman?” Joy asked.
Severns bowed as he handed over the note addressed to her. “Yes, my lady. Dressed all in black as if in full mourning, and her face hidden behind a black crepe veil.”
Setting her drink aside, Joy tore into the note and read it aloud:
I am not greedy, but I need more. Fifty pounds this time or I’ll do the same as I promised last time. Same place. Tomorrow by teatime. You know what I will do if you do not pay me.
She looked up, straight into Jansen’s eyes. Her fear and sheer desolation made him go and kneel beside her.
“Another hundred pounds?” he asked, aching to pull her into his arms and console her.
She shook her head. “Only fifty this time,” she said, her whisper weak. She caught hold of his hand and squeezed. “Why? Is it greed that drives this person?”
“Probably, my love. Either greed or envy. Both do terrible things to people. Once Aurelia returns, we shall see if hers says the same. We failed to invite Lady Frederica, Lady Constance, and Lady Prudence to tonight’s gathering, but if Aurelia’s note is the same, I see no reason why they didn’t receive notes as well. ”
She held her head, rocking forward and back. “I cannot imagine who this might be.”
The library door swung open. Aurelia stepped into the room, followed by a loudly meowing Nimbus, jumping and leaping to snatch hold of Joy’s reticule.
“He wants it back.” She held it out of his reach.
“You are not a crow, Nimbus! Just because it is shiny does not mean it is all right for you to steal it.” When no one laughed or reacted, she frowned.
“What has happened now? I thought to at least get a smile from Nimbus’s antics. ”
Jansen rose and handed her the note. “Yours is on the table there. See if it is the same as Joy’s.”
Aurelia opened it, compared the two, then blew out a heavy sigh. “The same. Fifty pounds as well.” She handed Joy her reticule. “Nimbus is your thief. I am sure the shiny beads caught his eye as soon as you arrived. Please find it in your heart to forgive him.”
Joy turned and glared at Jansen. “Tell me you had no idea where my reticule might be.”
“I never said that. I asked, Whatever could have happened to it?”
“I do not appreciate dishonesty,” she said. “While I realize you didn’t outright lie, nor did you volunteer the truth.”
“Because I love you—and stand before you, a desperate man willing to do anything to get you back.”
“I promise he loves you.” Aurelia hugged Joy. “Please grant him some grace on this. Please?”
The look in Joy’s eyes as she crossed her arms over her chest shot terror through his heart. She was plotting. He would bet his last coin on it.
“I will grant him grace if he agrees that I come with him tomorrow to drop off the money. Same place. Same time. No different dangers to worry about.” She jutted her chin higher, glaring at him. “What say you to that offer, my horse’s arse of a future husband?”
The somewhat dubious endearment thrilled him, and he bowed low to her. “I cede to your wishes, my angel. Tomorrow. We go together.”
*
Fifty pounds sterling knotted in an old rag sat on the table.
Joy scooped it up and shoved it into her reticule then went to the window to watch for Jansen’s arrival.
She refused to put the money in another little velvet bag.
The blackmailer could bloody well purchase their own fancy little purses to hold their stolen coins.
She swallowed hard, trying to slow her wildly thumping heart.
A sense of calm was essential. After all, she couldn’t very well allow Jansen to see her fraught with aggravation and anxiousness.
Even if he did suspect her unease, she doubted he would go back on his word to allow her to accompany him.
However, she had no doubts at all that he would scold her about her unease until they caught the annoying little miscreant.
At least if she maintained a calm facade, he would be less likely to nettle her about joining him rather than staying safely at home.
“He is here,” Merry shouted from the hallway just as Joy spotted his carriage turning down their street.
“Merry! Ladies do not shout about the arrival of visitors.” Serendipity shook her head. “That girl.”
“Leave her alone,” Joy said. “Her childlike liveliness makes the house a brighter place.” Not only that, but Merry’s exuberance was somewhat magical. One found it most difficult to remain grumpy whenever around her.
“Are you certain you must go?” Serendipity handed Joy the parasol that matched her lavender spencer and the field of dainty purple flowers embroidered across the white muslin of her gown. “And where is your bonnet?”
“Calm down, Seri, it is right here, and yes, I must go.” Joy donned the straw confection decorated with white lace and more purple silk flowers and tied the ribbon under her chin. “See? Properly tucked and tied.”
“I do not like this,” her sister said.
“Nor do I, but it must be done.” Joy turned at the thump of boots in the hallway that came ever closer. “Good afternoon, Jansen.”
Grim as death, Jansen nodded at Serendipity from the doorway, then shifted his full focus on Joy. “I assume there is no changing your mind.”
“You assume correctly.”
He offered his arm. “Then come along. We have a thief to catch.”
“A thief,” she said as she slipped her arm through his.
“Yes, because this blackguard has successfully stolen my peace of mind by endangering you and endangering us.”
She allowed herself a heavy sigh as they descended the front steps, crossed the walkway, and climbed into the carriage. “They have taken my peace of mind as well. With any luck, today will change all that.”
“I sincerely hope so.”
Jansen sat opposite her in the closed carriage, not only surprising her, but also adding a layer of uncertainty she currently didn’t need. Why hadn’t he seated himself beside her? It bothered her. Was he that angry about her forcing his hand to allow her to come along?
“I am glad we were able to convince Seri that this venture did not require a chaperone,” she said, fishing for a comment she could pick apart for the truth about his sitting across from her.