29. Chapter 29
Kitty had no choice but to stay at Rufus House until Mr Jenkin was well enough to leave. Unless William came back for her. Why had she been such a coward and refused to go with him?
She should have realised that staying would force her to spend far too much time alone with Hugh.
Dinner was an altogether too intimate affair, and he took every opportunity to impress on her the normalcy of it all.
As if this were how it would be once they were husband and wife.
He seemed convinced she would soon come around to his proposal.
Whenever she glanced across the table in his direction, she discovered him staring at her, as though he found her desirable.
She let him do the talking, adding little to the conversation.
He did not reiterate his threat of blackmailing the Duke over the scandal in her past, but she could not forget it.
A tight knot remained in her stomach that didn’t diminish.
The conviction that despite the facade he showed to the world, Mr Barrington could be ruthless when pursuing his own interests.
As the cloth was cleared away after the meal, he expressed his intention of joining her in the drawing room straightaway. Eager to put some distance between them, Kitty hastened to counter the suggestion.
“Please excuse me, Hugh. I wish to check on Laura.”
She rose from the table and hurried out the door, hoping he wouldn’t take it into his head to join them.
Sutton let her into her friend’s chamber as usual. The maid was beaming from ear to ear. “Go right ahead, miss. The master’s awake.”
Laura was sitting in her normal place by Mr Jenkin’s bedside, looking like a woman who had just received her husband back from the dead. Which, to all intents and purposes, she had.
Tilting her head to one side, Laura peered around her. “Are you alone? We were hoping Lord Droxford was with you.”
Not half as much as Kitty did. “He left this afternoon.”
“Bother. Did he drive David’s mother back to Weymouth?”
Mrs Jenkin was no longer here? That was news to her. “I didn’t realise she’d gone. I thought she’d be staying.”
“Papa sent word that a carriage was waiting to take her home. As David is now on the path to recovery, I didn’t like to argue with him. If Lord Droxford wasn’t employed on that mission, where has he gone? Are we expecting him to return today? My husband wants to talk to him.”
“He isn’t coming back.” Not unless his father gave his permission for their marriage, and the chances of that were slim. Why was it so hard to say the words? It didn’t make it any more real than it already was.
“But I thought he was making a copy of my portrait.”
“He was asked to leave.”
Laura blushed. “Oh, I see. Papa does not like to have his plans overset. His lordship would be a constant reminder of my imprudence in marrying David.”
Mr Jenkin squeezed his wife’s hand. “The imprudence was mine in not taking you away from here while I could. My work is important, but I hazarded our future together through my pig-headed pursuit of my goal.”
“Don’t be so hard on yourself, darling. You were only doing your duty.”
A twinge of jealousy caught Kitty unawares as she watched the two of them banter with such sweetness.
The love between them was so obvious. They had risked family disapproval to be together.
She wished she had been that brave. If she were given another opportunity to be with William, she would not give it up so readily.
“You have my sincere gratitude for being a friend to Laura while I was asleep, Miss Lacey. I thank God that I have woken up and have a second chance of keeping her safe.”
“What of your attackers? Lord Droxford said he thought from your expression that you recognised the person who hit him.”
His eyes darkened. “I did. It was one of my own men.”
“A member of the preventive force? How despicable!”
“Corruption is not as rare as you’d like to think. It’s dangerous work, and the temptation to avoid conflict is great. A bribe to turn a blind eye. The offer of a share of the contraband. Money has the power to lead a man from the narrow path—and those of us who stick to our duty stand out.”
“But why risk being seen?”
“It can’t have been planned. They saw an opportunity to get rid of me and put the blame on Lord Droxford, and they seized it. I wasn’t supposed to survive—but by the grace of God, here I am. In a bizarre way, it’s encouraging. I must be getting close to the truth for them to attack me like that.”
“The truth about what?”
“The identity of the smuggler-agent who’s been helping French officers escape the country.”
Kitty gasped. “That’s treasonous!”
Mr Jenkin nodded. “But very lucrative. Kellaway is aware that I’ve seen his face, so I’m a marked man.
Trouble is, I’m not sure who else is involved.
If I take him down, he might be persuaded to talk to save his neck, but he might not even know the ringleader’s identity.
I have my suspicions, but no proof, and I lack confidence about who I can trust.”
“Not to mention that you’re far from well. Your broken bones will need weeks to heal,” said Laura. “You are in no fit state to go pursuing smugglers.”
Mr Jenkin heaved a sigh. “Annoyingly true, my love. I was hoping to beg for Lord Droxford’s help, but with him gone, there is nothing I can do.”
Kitty’s curiosity was piqued. “What were you going to ask of him?”
Though there was a closed door between them and the corridor, Mr Jenkin lowered his voice. “To investigate the butler’s pantry.”
“Cousin Silas’s chamber?” asked Laura. “Whatever for? I thought you were after smugglers, not madmen.”
“Darling, did it never occur to you to mention this supposedly deranged relative to me?”
“Why? It’s embarrassing. I try to forget about it. Who wants word to get out that there’s a madman staying in their home. It would be so—”
Mr Jenkin sucked in his cheeks. He must be very much in love to keep his frustration in check. He laid his hand on top of hers. “I think Cousin Silas might be a French officer who has escaped his parole.”
Laura’s eyes grew wide, but then she gave a half-hearted chuckle and shook her head. “Impossible! He’s been here since I was in the schoolroom.”
“And someone has been helping prisoners of war to escape from Portland for the past five years. It’s probable that your insane relative has been a ruse to hide their presence in your father’s house.”
“But…but…”
“Have you ever seen Cousin Silas? Close enough to identify him?”
“No. Never. Papa attempted to persuade me to visit him several times, but I just couldn’t face it.”
How clever. Because Hugh had not tried to keep his daughter away, she had not questioned the madman’s existence.
Kitty’s instincts had been right all along. “Which means you can’t be sure the man in the basement is insane, or the same person who moved in when your father first told you about Cousin Silas, or indeed, if anyone is currently living there at all.”
Laura’s mouth slackened. “No, I suppose not.”
“I’ve believed for a long while that the trail leads here,” said Mr Jenkin, “but I have no proof. That room might hold the evidence I need.”
Kitty shivered as if she’d been touched by a spectre, and the chill flooded her entire being. Cousin Silas was Hugh’s story. Did that mean he was the traitor in their midst?
At last, Laura realised the enormity of what they were saying and rushed to point the finger in a different direction. “Blake is in and out of that room. He must be at the centre of what’s going on.”
“This is what we talked about, my love. That it might be your fath—”
“Don’t say it. Smuggling—yes. But helping French prisoners of war to escape? Do you honestly suspect him of that?”
Kitty understood her reticence to believe Hugh was guilty, but the more she thought about it, the more it made sense.
“It’s the perfect cover. Who would question a magistrate without firm evidence?
He even used your relationship with your husband to beneficial effect, using his dislike of the match as a screen for his real reason for warning Mr Jenkin away. ”
That seemed to sway Laura against her own father. “Do you think he is responsible for the attempt on your life, David? If so, I’ll never forgive him.”
The man ran a hand over her head, smoothing down her hair in a soothing manner.
“Until we know what is hidden down there, it’s all conjecture.
But our country’s safety is at risk. By the time I am well enough to investigate, it may be too late.
Even now, the most recent prisoner of war may have made it across the Channel. ”
Laura’s eyes grew wide. “You’re not suggesting I should look inside that room, are you?”
“No! On no account do I want you nosing around down there. I was hoping for Lord Droxford’s assistance. After our last encounter, I’m certain I can trust him. Do you know where I might find him, Miss Lacey?”
“At his grandmother’s home on the Esplanade in Weymouth.” Where she could have been right now if she hadn’t refused to leave with him.
“If I write a letter, would you go there tomorrow and deliver it into his hands? I dare not trust anyone in this house apart from the occupants of this room, and I need Sutton here, so I am not left alone when my wife is called away. It would be foolish to give my attacker another chance to kill me.”
Laura clung to her husband’s arm. “Can’t we leave now? I’m afraid…”
“I wish we could, but I’m so weak that we are safer here. If somebody attacked us en route to my mother’s, I could not protect you.” He raised his eyes to meet Kitty’s. “Will you go?”
He didn’t have to ask again. She was already going to say yes, even if she had to walk the entire way, but wasn’t there someone else Mr Jenkin could call upon?
“Wouldn’t it be quicker to send word to the Governor of Portland?
He only lives next door, and I could run over there in a quarter of an hour. ”
“This is a matter of great delicacy, and though I am sure Mr Penn is trustworthy, I would rather rely on Lord Droxford to get my message to the right people.”
“Then I will leave at first light tomorrow.”
“Thank you. It would be safer for you not to return.”
Kitty had failed to stop William from leaving without her, but she was being given a second chance to be with him.
A second chance to show her courage. She had thought she was being brave to stay for the sake of William’s family, but knew she had been afraid of rejection.
Now she needed to be brave for the sake of her country and face the fears that had held her back before.
Because she needed to go to his grandmother’s house to find him and would have to rely on his sisters’ mercy to stay safe until she could make other plans. Despite the difficulties that lay ahead, Kitty’s heart sped up at the thought of seeing William again. Holding onto that would keep her going.
Kitty waited while Mr Jenkin wrote his letter. When the ink was dry, he folded it and secured it with a blob of red wax impressed with Laura’s monogram, in the absence of his own seal. After directing it to Lord Droxford, he handed her the note.
“Put it into his lordship’s hand. Don’t trust anyone else.” He extracted a few coins from a purse on his bedside table. “Take the ferry across to the mainland and hire a carriage to carry you into town if you can. God speed.”
After hugging Laura, Kitty tucked the letter into the front of her bodice.
With the possibility of traitors in the house, she had no wish to be caught with it in her hand.
At best, it would appear she was in secret correspondence with William—a man to whom she was not engaged.
At worst, it would prove she was conspiring against the smugglers—and only God knew what they would do to her if they found out.