Chapter Twenty-Seven #2
Once upstairs, he kissed her thoroughly before closing the door.
He knew what they were doing was wrong. He should have waited until after the wedding, when they could make as much noise as they wanted and stay in the same bed all day if they wanted to.
He got into his own bed and fell asleep with the scent of her all around him.
Lucinda had not expected his demand while at luncheon. “I will not!”
“Be reasonable, Lucinda.” Tony crossed his arms over his chest.
Putting down her cutlery, she glared at him. “I will not hand over my ring to someone I have never met. I thought we had discussed this,” she hissed.
“Stafford is trustworthy.” Tony ran a hand through his hair.
Hair that last night she had pulled her fingers through as he had made love to her. “If my father had trusted the king’s men he would surely have handed it over then, but he did not. So, I will not.”
Tony stood, throwing his napkin on the table. “To be honest, who knows why your father did what he did. He was a damn fool.”
“Well, that damn fool is not here to ask so I must assume he had no plans to give it to anyone.” She could hear the pitch of her own voice rising and took a few calming breaths, but Tony had not finished.
“If he had not intended to hand it over, he would not have put it in a ring and given it to you to keep.”
She unclenched her hand that had been crushing her napkin. “He gave the ring to me. Therefore, it is up to me what should be done with it.”
“You are being unreasonable. Are you going to live here forever? Never being able to leave in case someone finds you and kills you for that bloody ring.”
“Nobody knows it is there. If they did I could have been killed ten times over in the last few weeks. If I get murdered, it will be because they believe I have the secret or know of it, not that it is in the ring. It will not matter if it is on my finger. Like us, the last place they will look is in that ring.” Her heart was racing, and she could feel the heat rising on her face.
“Brother,” Marianne interrupted. “Perhaps you could give her some time to think it over.” She put her arm around Lucinda’s shoulder in support.
Lucinda raised her chin nearly to the ceiling, but her eyes were filling fast with tears.
Tony sighed and took up her hand, the napkin falling to the table.
“I am sorry this simple request has upset you. However, I cannot make sense of why you would not want to be rid of it. We cannot pretend we don’t know it is there, as we did before.
That you are in danger at all rubs at me, Lucinda.
And do you know why? Because I love you.
I cannot contemplate a world without you now.
” He kissed the palm of her hand and placed it over his heart.
“I want us to start our life together, but we cannot do that if we are constantly looking over our shoulders. Do you understand?”
She nodded, for lack of any words to respond. He loved her and he said it in front of Marianne. I cannot contemplate a world without you now. She watched him leave the room, a single tear falling onto her cheek.
“I think that is the most romantic thing I have ever heard.” Marianne sighed and took out her little notebook, one she took everywhere, and turned to a fresh page. “I think a list is in order. Pros and cons. Hopefully, this will help you make up your mind as to what to do.”
“What would you do?” Lucinda asked, wiping the tear from her cheek.
Her friend smiled. “It does not matter what I would do. I am not you, and that is not my ring.”
He ended up at Warrington House. His brother was exceedingly happy to see him, which was a novel experience.
He handed him a drink and settled on the sofa.
Also, a strange sight. He very rarely sat in the parlor.
He always seemed agitated and itching to get back to whatever he did in that room at the top of the stairs all day.
“Tell me all.” The duke actually looked like he wanted to know all.
Tony sipped at the brandy, contemplating his words. “Everyone is fine, if not bored.”
“What else?”
“Marianne was overjoyed to have Sasha with her again.”
“Of course. And?”
Tony was concerned. This was not like his brother. “Why not simply ask me what you want to know?
“Has Stafford provided you with any information regarding Lucinda, her father, and this so-called stolen note?”
“No, has he told you anything?”
His brother’s eyes narrowed. “No. I see in your eyes that you are itching to tell me something, so spit it out.”
“If I tell you, then you will be in danger.”
Edward frowned at his youngest brother. He stood and went over to the portrait of Lucinda’s parents and flipped the cloth back to reveal it. “Come and admire Dunstan’s work.”
Tony raised a brow. “You know art is not my thing.”
“But looking for clues is. What do you see?”
Tony walked over to the painting and stared at the faces of Lucinda’s parents. “Lucinda has her mother’s face and her father’s hair, but we already knew that.”
“Look closer.”
Tony studied the picture in full. “The note behind Foxton’s back! The ring on the mother’s hand is the same as Lucinda’s. There is a cradle, presumably Lucinda’s. A rattle on the floor with a letter L.”
“Puzzling, is it not? How was Dunstan able to put in these extra details if he knew nothing of her parents other than a miniature? Why would he put Lucinda’s ring on her mother’s hand?
And what is the significance of the note half hiding behind her father?
I have been ruminating over it for the last few days since he delivered it. ”
“He knows about the secret Foxton stole! He put it in the picture to tell us he knew.”
“Why would someone like Dunstan know about the secret her father stole.”
“I would say he heard the rumors about why he had been murdered. It must be all over London by now. She has to give it up.”
“Give what up?”
“We have found the secret, and it is not good news. In fact, it is very dangerous, and she will not part with it?”
“Part with what?”
“You must not tell anyone I was here today.”
The duke looked around. “Pray, who would I tell?”
“Stafford.”
“You have it, whatever it is, and you have not told Stafford? How dangerous is this thing?”
“It has the potential to be very deadly indeed. In the wrong hands it could be a catastrophe.”
The duke sat heavily in the nearest chair. “Good Lord, what is it?”
“I cannot tell you, not yet.”
“Are mother and Marianne really safe at this place where you are staying?”
“As safe as anywhere. We have bow street runners acting as footmen, watching the house.”
“That infernal dog of Marianne’s will alert you of any strangers.” The duke rubbed at his eyes.
“True. If you need to contact me for any reason, leave a message at the Sow’s Ear. Address it to Cornelias.”
“Cornelias?”
“Don’t ask,” Tony said.
His brother raised his hands in surrender. “What should I do if Dunstan comes sniffing around again?”
“Tell him nothing. The less he knows the better. I feel that this is some kind of warning. But why now?”