Chapter 17 #3
“Keep your voice down, Percy. They’re already in enough jeopardy as it is. We don’t need to announce their activities to the world,” the earl said with quiet authority.
Percy Rockwood’s pallor turned ashen again at his brother’s words. With a nod, he struggled to regain his composure, but Theo could tell it was difficult.
“It wasn’t until last week that Peter appeared, saying you and Genevieve were in danger because of your work for the Crown,” Uncle Percy said softly.
“It made little sense at the time as the an dara sealladh is never clear. Your father was the one who figured it out when Jamie lied to him at the family dinner this week.”
“Who else is working in the Secret Intelligence Service?” his father asked softly. When Theo hesitated to answer, the earl pinned his gaze on him as if Theo were to be pinned to a wall.
“Their names, Theodore.” The sharp command made him wince.
“You already know Genevieve and I do. Peter did before…before his death. Harry, Rufus, Charles, Ross, and Val also spy for the Crown. Amalie knows Val was in the field before William was born, but he didn’t want to worry her, so he chose to work out of the agency’s office, coordinating field agents. ”
Uncle Percy gestured toward the whisky in a frantic, silent demand that Theo give him the whisky bottle.
The moment it was in his hand, his uncle poured a full glass of the alcohol and threw it down his throat in one gulp.
Percy Rockwood poured another stiff portion, then offered the bottle to his brother.
Lord Melton poured a similar amount into his crystal tumbler, taking a long draught of the whisky as well.
Setting the half-empty glass down on the desktop, Sebastian sat with his head bent for a moment before turning to his brother.
“Rhea and Louisa will not handle this well at all, and I’ve no idea how Constance will react, although maybe she already knows, given she’s the one with the strongest talent for the an dara sealladh, other than Jamie,” the earl muttered as he met his brother’s gaze.
“God knows what I’m going to tell Helen.
She’s already begun to comment on Theo’s absence.
It won’t be long before she insists I learn where he is. ”
Theo cleared his throat, and his uncle and father turned their heads toward him.
“Perhaps the best thing to do is say nothing at all.” Theo saw his father’s face darken with disappointment.
“Do you honestly think there’s a Rockwood woman on the planet who wouldn’t draw and quarter her husband for keeping this kind of information from them—even if it were to save them from fear and worry for their children,” his father growled with disgust at the suggestion.
“When you and Genevieve are married, you’ll understand what a high price you’ll pay if you make the mistake of keeping a secret from your wife. ”
At his father’s words, Theo rose from his chair and returned to the window. From the second-story office, he could see the wharf, where the latest delivery of sugar from South America was being unloaded and stored in the warehouse.
“Genevieve and I aren’t going to marry.”
Silence met his flat remark, and after several seconds he looked over his shoulder to see his father and uncle staring at each other in stunned disbelief. Lord Melton looked at Theo, and with a slight shake of his head, he frowned in bewilderment.
“Has she refused you?”
“Three times,” Theo said grimly as he turned away from the two men to stare out the window again. After a long moment, Theo heard his uncle mutter an oath.
“You didn’t tell me she’d refused you multiple times when we were trying to develop a plan for you to convince her to accept your offer, Theo,” his uncle said with annoyance.
“I saw no point in doing so.” Theo shrugged as he bowed his head. “You know how stubborn Genevieve can be. She’s made up her mind. I went along with your plan so I didn’t have to argue with you.”
“Then she’s using her past as an excuse.” The disgusted note in Percy Rockwood’s voice indicated his frustration with his daughter. “I think it’s time I brought Rhea into the conversation.”
“No,” Theo exclaimed with more vehemence than he’d meant to.
Astonished by his reaction, both men looked at each other and then back at Theo. Aware he’d made a serious error with his response, he returned his attention to the ship being unloaded at the wharf.
“What else aren’t you telling me, Theo?”
Something in his uncle’s voice made his muscles grow taut as he tried to collect himself before turning around and lying to his uncle’s face.
Any other time, a small lie to his uncle wouldn’t have been difficult, but his father was present, and he knew he wouldn’t be able to get away with deflecting the question or answering with some fabrication.
But he also knew he’d go to his grave protecting Genevieve and her secrets. He continued to look out the window.
“Any secrets Genevieve has are hers to tell. If there’s anything she wants you to know, that’s her decision to make.”
“Christ almighty,” Percy Rockwood whispered. “Rhea was right. Ruckley did do something to Genevieve.”
“What do you mean?”
It wasn’t difficult to hide his horror at his uncle’s comment as he whirled around to stare at Percy Rockwood. If Genevieve’s adopted father already knew Ruckley had made Genevieve service men from an early age, she’d be horrified.
The one thing she’d not wanted was for her parents to know about her terrible past. Now, staring at the pain on his uncle’s face, Theo couldn’t be sure how much the man knew. Nor did Theo have any intention of admitting or confirming anything his uncle knew.
“Rhea has her suspicions, but nothing she can confirm. When we first brought the children home to Green Hill House, she tried to coax Genevieve into sharing what had happened.” Uncle Percy shook his head.
“Genevieve denied anything was wrong, but we knew she was terrified. She was terrified of me, her uncles, every man who came near her, except for her brothers. We knew Ruckley was responsible, but Genevieve has never told us what the man did to her.”
Silence filled the office for a long moment as the three of them became lost in their own thoughts. After several minutes, Percy Rockwood suddenly stiffened and straightened in his chair.
“You said Wills works for the Crown. In what capacity?” The minute Theo hesitated, his uncle leaned forward in his chair with suppressed fury. “Goddamnit, man, answer my question.”
“He’s the foreign section’s surgeon.”
“And was he working in that capacity this past July?”
There was an intensity about Percy Rockwood’s question that made Theo realize Genevieve’s father suspected her shoulder hadn’t hurt because she’d slept on it wrong.
Theo nodded, but didn’t provide any verbal response.
His uncle reached for the almost empty bottle of whisky, this time foregoing a glass and drinking straight from the bottle.
As his uncle set the bottle back on the desk with a hard thud, he narrowed his eyes at Theo. Even before his uncle spoke, there was a silent warning on Percy Rockwood’s face that said the older man’s patience was thin as a string of thread.
“Think long and hard as to how you answer this next question, Lord Selbourne,” his uncle said. “Did Wills have to treat my daughter for any kind of injury a couple of days before we were at Callander Abbey for Aunt Matilda’s birthday?”
That Uncle Percy had resorted to using his formal title told Theo the senior members of the Rockwoods were going to wring his neck if he failed to answer the question his uncle had just asked. With resignation, he sank down into his chair.
“Yes.”
“And was that injury related to her shoulder?” His uncle narrowed his gaze as Theo hesitated. “Don’t even think about hedging the truth, Theo, or so help me god, you’ll be picking yourself up from the floor, bloodied and battered.”
“In a manner of speaking,” Theo said softly, hesitant to give Genevieve up to her father.
“Explain.”
“She’d been stabbed.”
“Sweet Jesus,” his uncle whispered in horror as he slumped back into his chair. “How bad was it?”
“Wills said it took almost twenty sutures to close the wound. It was…”Theo’s voice trailed off into silence as he came close to revealing the fact that he’d seen Genevieve’s stitches himself.
“Are you saying she almost died?”
“Wills said she was lucky.”
Percy Rockwood rubbed one hand over his face as he shuddered at Theo’s reply.
Beside him, his brother reached out and clapped him on the shoulder in a gesture of comfort.
It was obvious Uncle Percy was in deep distress, and Theo wanted to do what he could to reassure him that Genevieve was being protected.
“I know it’s not what you want to hear, but from that moment forward, I was her partner. I hadn’t known that she was with the Secret Intelligence Service until she was injured. But Genevieve and I worked with another agent as part of the organization’s restructuring after Peter’s death.”
“You say that in past tense. Are you saying you’re no longer Genevieve’s partner?”
“She’s been taken out of the field. Any investigations she does will be confined to the social events she attends.”
“If she’s been taken out of the field, that means something has happened,” Theo’s father said. “Does it have to do with your recent behavior?”
“Yes, three weeks ago, she was…she…one of the men we suspect of working for the Prussians made inappropriate advances toward her under the impression that she had become…had an arrangement with me.” Theo winced as his father’s eyes narrowed with disapproval, while his uncle stared at him wide-eyed in shocked dismay.
“If it’s any consolation, Uncle Percy, everyone is guarding her and ensuring she doesn’t return to the East End. ”
“Everyone but you,” his father observed quietly. Theo met his father’s gaze, then reached out to fiddle with a pencil lying on the desktop. “I’m protecting her in my own way.”