Regency: Rakes & Reputations. Gail RanstromЧитать онлайн книгу.
to allow you to be present if there should be any problems.”
“Do you really think there will be problems? Could that dreadful man yet be lurking in the gardens?” Hortense asked.
“I believe I frightened him off.” He cast a reassuring glance in Gina’s direction. “But we should not take any chances. I’ve had my carriage brought round.”
Harriett sighed, whether in relief or disappointment, she could not guess. “You are too kind, sir,” she said.
They made a quiet exit and were safely on their way before any fuss could be made. The Thayer home was their first stop, and James handed the twins down from the carriage with a courtly flourish. Both girls thanked him graciously and quickly promised him dances the following night.
He settled himself beside Gina as the carriage started off again. Before she could ask, he posed a question of his own.
“Did he hurt you?”
She removed her mask and sighed. Where she had once been uncomfortable with James, she was now relieved to be alone with him. She hadn’t realized the strain she’d been under to keep her composure until that very moment.
“He was going to break my neck. When he saw you, he said he had a knife. What happened when you went after him? I was so afraid you’d fought and that he …” She began to shiver, unwilling to even entertain the notion that James might not have returned to her. That Henley could have killed him.
He took her hand between his to stop her trembling. “He’d stolen a horse and gotten away before I got to the stables.”
She frowned. “But you were gone so long.”
“There’s more, Eugenia. I have been searching for a man who could have helped us find Henley. Stanley Metcalfe. I found him dead beneath some bushes when I was returning to the house.”
Dead? But she’d just danced with him. There must be some mistake. “Are you certain it was Mr. Metcalfe?”
“He’d been knifed. I wanted you safely away before anyone could question you. Should anyone ask, you know nothing about the entire affair.”
Her eyes burned with unshed tears. “I danced with him. He warned me that Henley wanted to kill me.”
“Metcalfe?” he asked, a note of disbelief in his voice. “Was this something to do with your search for Henley?”
“I…I was to meet him tonight. To persuade him to help me. He’d been hiding from Mr. Henley, afraid to appear in public. Oh, I wish he’d never come to meet me.”
“I didn’t see you dance with him, Eugenia.”
The tone of his voice should have warned her. “He was dressed as a leper. But he disappeared so quickly after our dance that I was unable to question him further.”
“Leper? Was that not the costume Henley was wearing when he attacked you?”
She nodded. “I thought he was Mr. Metcalfe. I thought he’d come back to tell me …”
James groaned. “Blast it all! Henley killed Metcalfe and stole his costume to get close to you before you discovered who he was. But what did Metcalfe have to tell you?”
The hidden key burned its impression into the soft flesh of her bosom. If she told James about it, he would take it from her. He was so stubbornly determined to protect her from herself that she could not trust him. “Something more,” she improvised. “Perhaps where to find Mr. Henley. Or where he is living.”
“How did you draw him out of hiding?”
“Miss Race. His fiancée. She interceded for me. He was dreadfully afraid of Mr. Henley. He said he knew something that Mr. Henley would kill him for.” Suddenly the horror of the situation struck her. “Oh! Miss Race! She will be devastated. I should go to her. Be with her when she hears the awful news.”
“Did she come with him?”
“She came with friends. Mr. Metcalfe was in the habit of meeting her wherever she went.”
“Then she would best hear it tomorrow in the privacy of her own home. But think carefully, Eugenia. Did Metcalfe say what he knew?”
“That is not the sort of thing I’d be likely to forget, sir. No. He did not tell me what it was.”
He cupped her cheek and turned her face to his. “Now I’ve made you angry. That wasn’t my intention.”
She flinched at his touch. “I dislike being interrogated as if I’ve done something wrong.”
“Wrong? No, Eugenia. But you’ve done something reckless and dangerous. You’ve put yourself at risk when you’ve promised you wouldn’t. Ask questions. That’s what you said you were going to do.”
Gina’s conscience tweaked her. That was all she’d done. So far. But she’d made plans to do more with Ned. She would have to meet him tomorrow night and beg off. The incident with Henley had shaken her more than she’d wanted to admit.
James ran his thumb over her lower lip, his voice deadly calm. “‘Tis swollen, Eugenia. Did Henley steal a kiss?”
“He had his hand over my mouth. He was dragging me away from the arbor.” To kill her and leave her body beside Mr. Metcalfe’s, no doubt.
He leaned forward slowly, giving her time to turn away. But she couldn’t. His mouth was soft and gentle as he cherished her lower lip before took her whole mouth in a kiss no less exciting than those that had come before, but somehow more comforting, reassuring.
The carriage stopped in front of Andrew’s house, jolting her out of the hypnotic hold James had over her. Slowly, and with a heavy sigh, he released her scant moments before the driver opened the door. He got out and offered his hand to help her down.
“Are you returning to the masque?”
“Yes. Charlie is waiting and we will need to inform Mr. Morris that there is a dead body in his garden. He has likely sent for Wycliffe already.”
“You will let me know what happens?”
“Tomorrow.” He took her arm, walked her to the door and waited while she rummaged for her key in her reticule. He took it from her and unlocked the door. “Good evening, Eugenia,” he said as he opened the door.
She stepped into the foyer and stopped. At least eight crates were stacked floor to ceiling just inside the door. Suddenly she could not breathe. Had Mama found early passage?
“Eugenia? What …”
Alerted by her sudden halt, he followed her into the foyer. “You did not mention you were leaving,” he said after a moment.
“I did not know.” She turned and looked at him. “Mama must have found an earlier departure.”
“When?”
She shook her head. “She did not say a word to me. Passage must have become available suddenly.”
He looked at her and she knew there was something he wanted to say, but he merely bowed, turned on his heel, and closed the door behind him as he departed.
The thought of Mr. Henley escaping justice haunted her, but the realization that she might never see James again tore at her heart. How had she let things go so far? How had she let herself love James?
She could not change one, but she could do something about the other. There was no more time for fear or hesitation. Tomorrow she would meet Ned as planned, and she would do whatever she must to bring Henley’s reign of terror to an end.
As he climbed back in his carriage and gave his driver instructions to return to the masquerade, cold fury gripped Jamie’s viscera. Once again, Henley had damaged Eugenia. Once again, Jamie had failed to protect her. But any qualms he’d had about killing Henley to prevent a public trial had disappeared the instant he’d