Chapter Two #2
He held out his arm. “Please, this is not a place where a young lady should be.”
“Clearly, it is not,” she said wryly. “But I prefer to go alone. I’d feel much safer without your escort.”
She heard him chuckle as she left him and marched down the corridor.
Prickles of awareness still danced down her spine, but she refused to admit his kiss had stirred something indefinable within her. Taking herself to task, she hastened to knock on Lord Bain’s library door.
“Come,” Lord Bain called.
She glanced behind her. The outrageous rake stood at a distance with a slight frown, arms folded. He didn’t believe her. Why should she care what he thought? With a sigh of relief, she slipped into the library and closed the door behind her.
Lord Bain looked up from his desk, no doubt surprised by her unannounced entrance.
“Sit down, my dear.” He stood up with pursed lips, a hand pushing back his graying fair hair.
Prue supposed she presented a problem he disliked having on his hands.
“I must say again how sorry I am for the tragic loss of your father, Lady Prudence.” He took her hands and squeezed them gently before releasing them.
“I hope you have recovered a little from your ordeal.”
As if she could! Prue was determined to find out if he knew more than he had revealed.
A friend and neighbor of her father’s, he must have heard something.
News traveled fast in this close-knit society.
“My father was known in the community to be a good man; he never turned his back on those in need. He used to take me with him around the estate. When we visited the tenants, I saw how he cared for them. How they revered him. I don’t understand why anyone would want to kill him.
Are you sure there isn’t a clue in that letter he wrote to you? ”
“We were involved in a joint financial arrangement. I found him troubled, but I have no notion about what. I wish I had asked him. But men like to keep their secrets. I expect that as I live nearby, should anything happen to him, he was confident I would assist you. And I’m pleased to do whatever I can.
Did you see anyone unknown to you on the estate before the shot was fired, Lady Prudence? ”
She gripped her hands together. “I did. When I was coming downstairs for breakfast, a stranger rode into the grounds wearing a dark coat, his hat pulled low over his brow. He retreated immediately after the shot. I know that’s not very helpful, but try as I might, I can’t recall anything else about the man, which might prove to be of interest.”
“Never mind, my dear. You are deeply troubled. As am I. Mayhap some recollection will occur to you later.” He turned away with a sense of purpose.
“Now, I have decided what’s best to do for you.
” Lord Bain settled back in his chair, as if placing the desk between them removed any further need for discussion.
“I have sent a footman with a message to Mr. Stanton’s London address.
Am I right in assuming he is your father’s heir? ”
“That is true.” She frowned, hating the idea of facing Roland, her father’s brother’s son. “He and my father weren’t particularly close. We haven’t seen him for years; he’s only just returned from the Continent.”
“I expect when he learns of the sad tidings, he will travel directly to Sedgwick Hall. He will deal with the magistrate and make all the necessary arrangements. Lift those burdens from your small shoulders. You can join him there tomorrow or the following day when he arrives.” He paused as a shriek of laughing protest floated through the window.
“Now you must rest. I’ll have luncheon sent to your chamber. Where is your maid?”
“I didn’t bring her.” Prue had rushed out the door without thinking to bring Allie, the housemaid she was training to become her ladies’ maid, since Smith had left her to marry the coachman.
“That is unfortunate.” Lord Bain stroked his chin. “Mrs. Miller will assign a maid to attend you. We will talk again later.”
Prue could do nothing but thank him and leave the room.
So, she was to be relegated to the bedchamber for hours, or possibly days, shut away from viewing what she already guessed was an unacceptable party for decent folk.
It made her wonder what kind of man Lord Bain really was.
A widower for some years, was he the respectable gentleman he purported to be?
It was hard to imagine him living a life of debauchery.
He seemed so mild and well-mannered. But who could tell, and what did she know about such things?
As she returned to her bedchamber, Lord Bain was pushed from her mind by a rakish man who had outrageously kissed her. Viscount Hereford, with his angular face and sharp cheekbones, might have looked like Satan himself but for his world-weary gray eyes.
*
Jack gave a regretful sigh, watching the young lady enter Bain’s library.
He heard Bain greet her warmly before the door closed.
She appeared to be on familiar terms with him, well acquainted enough to have come to his house without her maid or a woman chaperone, which wasn’t usual.
He shrugged; it had nothing to do with him.
Bain’s bacchanalia had yet to bear fruit, and Jack had long since tired of the party.
Still, the young woman intrigued him. Pretty girls did as a rule, and she was more than pretty, quite beautiful, in fact, her demure dress failing to hide her lush curves.
She hadn’t offered her name but clearly was a carefully raised young lady who might have come from a wealthy or even titled family.
So, she hadn’t been invited to Lord Bain’s house party to entertain the gentlemen.
He’d enjoyed their kiss, brief as it had been, and would have liked to deepen it, to taste her.
He ruefully rubbed his smarting cheek. For a slight woman, she packed quite a wallop.
It was regrettable that she wasn’t what he had thought her to be.
None of the courtesans here stirred his interest; in his opinion, that which came so easily to a man lost much of its charm.
But this fresh-faced young woman was like a swan among the waterfowl.
Her wide, sea-green eyes and abundant, flaming auburn hair might have prompted him to spend a few hours enjoying a dalliance.
It stirred him to discover why she was here and what had caused the sadness and desperation he’d caught in her eyes.
He shook his head and cautioned himself to let it go.
To become distracted now, when the villains might finally show their hand, would not only be unprofessional, but it would also be disastrous.
Jack intended to ask Bain about her as soon as they had a chance to confer about information either of them might have gained from the assembled company.
These men had been invited because of their strong belief that England needed change, and how they’d bragged about how they were the ones who would bring it: by inciting a revolution.
Since France had become a republic, there were many who thought England should follow suit and rid itself of the monarchy, then replace the prime minister with a man of the same view.
It was an outlandish plan, which could hardly succeed, but many lives might be lost if the culprits were not found quickly.
Although in this assembled company, so far, Jack had found little of interest to him.
He only hoped Bain had had better luck and the whole affair hadn’t been a complete waste of time.
At least the highly enjoyable kiss had made it worth the journey.