The Convenient Bride (15 page)

"I
knew they were married under strange circumstances," Briana said,
frowning, "and they are never seen together..."

"Indeed,
they are not. Lady Farrow believes Lord Commings had it planned all along. He
wanted her father's money, you see. Well, that's what she thinks anyway."

"I
feel sorry for both of them."

"I
don't believe things are as bad as they appear, but I only told you the story
because rumors have it Lord Clayton is searching for a wife. Papa is becoming
ever so stuffy lately. He wants no scandal attached to his name. He was quite
upset when Lord Clayton insisted on watching over your godmother."

Briana
could not hold back her laughter. "Yes, I know. A maid was posted outside
during the night. And speaking of your papa, I have heard he has an excellent
book collection about the ancient pyramids of Egypt. I was wondering if I could
see it."

Briana
contemplated how a man who was so afraid of scandal could ever be involved in
an assassination plot against the Prince Regent. It just could not be so. This
mission would probably turn out to be nothing at all.

"Of
course you can see them," Violet said as she walked toward the door.
"Truly, Bree, reading is one thing, but a lady must be careful. Being
labeled a bluestocking is quite another."

Briana
felt sorry for her friend. How could a woman not be curious? "I don't
intend to marry like you do, Violet."

Violet's
hand fell from the door. "Goodness' sakes, why not?"

"I
have my reasons." Briana didn't want to explain herself. Instead she
reached out to her friend. "If you wish to make me happy, you will lead me
to that collection, and I promise I will make it to the dance tonight."

"Oh,
Bree! That would be wonderful! I would be in your debt if you stood by my side
for a bit. But I will not push you if you are still nursing your injury."

"Consider
yourself in my debt."

Violet
gave Briana a hug. "I am so glad you came."

Briana
smiled as they left the room. She needed to make her way to the library without
anyone the wiser. She hated to use her friendship with Violet, but the Regent's
life was at stake. And if Whitehall's source was to be believed, and Grimstoke
was involved, Briana had to search for evidence. Whoever had forwarded the
information about Grimstoke must have had good reason. Revenge, perhaps? That
was always a good motivator, truth or not.

Of
course, there was a slim chance the information was true. Agatha had mentioned
other agents with more significant leads, searching Bath. But it didn't
undermine the fact that the Prince Regent had a long list of enemies for one
reason or another. Many were not happy with his extravagant ways. There could
be a number of people that could be plotting against him.

Questions
danced around in Briana's head as if she had downed two bottles of champagne.
Was Lord Grimstoke merely a pawn in a game of revenge? Was this investigation
at the house party a total waste of Whitehall's time? Briana didn't know what
to think, but since Agatha was still in bed dosed with laudanum, she would have
to make the investigations by herself.

Drink in
hand, Lord Grimstoke sat in his chair and lifted his head as the maid walked
into his private sitting room.

"There
be nothing in her reticule or her belongings, my lord," Chloe said.
"I looked everywhere."

"Dash
it, Chloe. She has ties to Whitehall. We cannot let her out of our sight."

"And
what about us? When will we be leaving this place?"

"As
soon as I get my money. The Regent played me for the fool last year at the
tables and I intend to see the right of it."

"Your
wife?"

"She
don't know a thing. Sits in bed eating rolls all day. It's Violet I'm worried
about. Got herself set on marriage to a gentleman of the
ton
. Won't
work. No one will be the wiser, but when I leave, well, by Jove, we must take
her with us."

"Oh,
love, she won't want to come along. Why not send her to that cousin in India?
Seems like a fine gent. Wanted to marry the girl for years. He won't mind if
there's talk."

Grimstoke
steepled his hands against his chin. "Simon always had a liking for her.
He may be twenty years older, but I can count on him. Owes me a favor, too. He
will see I did the right thing with Prinny and all this. Violet won't like it,
but it will be the best thing I can do for her. Never liked scandals, you know.
But once I run off with you ..."

He shook
his head. "No, no. Have to have her settled. That's what I'll do. Simon it
is. He'll take care of her like a queen. Violet needs pampering, you know.
After we are settled in America, well, who knows, Simon might take it upon
himself to move there too. In fact, I'll make it worth his while."

His gaze
was tired. "Good thing I have you, Chloe."

Chloe
snuggled against his chest. "Good thing, Grimmy."

"You'd
best get back to Miss Appleby. That goddaughter of hers is my daughter's
friend. Quiet little thing. Don't want her involved in any of this. Might upset
Violet, you know. If we can keep Miss Appleby in bed, all will be good. Add a
little more laudanum, enough to have her sleep the day away. Can't have her
dead, won't look good. Magistrates and all that."

Chloe
pulled away, her eyes wide with curiosity. "Did you have something to do
with the carriage yesterday?"

"No,
by Jove, not my style. Don't know what happened there. Meant to take care of
Miss Appleby when she arrived. You know, put the laudanum in her drink. Make
her too tired to follow up on us. Well, it worked out nice and tight for us, did
it not?"

The maid
gave him a saucy smile. "What about your contact? Won't he be leaving you
a message about the money?"

"Yes,
well, can't have him knowing we have trouble. Won't be any good to us at all.
And to tell you the truth, don't know if the contact is male or female. But all
I have to do is pass on the exact schedule Prinny will be taking when he visits
Bath again. The Regent always lets me know his plans in case I want to join
him. He don't tell many people."

He sent
a concerned look toward the door and lowered his voice. "They plan to take
the Regent on the road. Scare him a bit, you know. He's been very careful since
the crowd turned on him a while ago. Keeps his itinerary private."

Chloe's
fingers moved seductively over his cravat. "It ain't right that old Prinny
took your money at that game down in Brighton. Ain't right at all."

Grimstoke
wrapped his hand about her waist. "That's right. Cheated me, he did. Took
almost everything I had in one roll of the dice. Ain't going to let that go, no
matter who he is. Let them kidnap the fat old goat. Should wake the country up
a bit, I daresay. It will give the old boy a good scare, too. They'll let him
go, of course. They ain't going to kill him, you know."

The maid
frowned. "But what if they do kill him?"

"They
ain't going to. Be a blasted mess. They only want to scare him. Let him know
they ain't fond of his excessive living. Some fanatical group, don't you know.
Knew we were old friends."

Grimstoke
tapped angrily against the side of the chair. "We still keep in touch,
though it pains me every time I put my hand to the pen. My blasted luck never
holds up when I've been out drinking all day. But that's neither here nor
there. Whoever wants the exact route and time is willing to give me money so I
can leave this country for good."

"But
I thought you said the Prince cheated you."

"Yes,
well... indeed he did. He should have known I wasn't up to snuff that night.
Could have let me slide a bit, don't you know. Never you fear, Chloe, we will
sail off into the moonlight together."

Chloe's
brows knitted into a frown. "And you have the information?"

"I'll
be leaving the message in that secret chamber. And why should he or she not
have it? Received a missive to leave the information there at a specific time during
the house party. With over fifty guests, I don't know who it is, and I don't
care. It ain't every day the Prince Regent is kidnapped, and the less
information I know the better."

"Ah,
there you are. Cousin. Thought you might be up for a ride. 'Depend upon it,' I
said to myself, 'the old boy will be in the stables saddling his own
horse.'"

Clayton's
nerves cringed at the sound of the haughty but familiar voice. He slanted his
gaze toward the stable door and narrowed his eyes. What the deuce was his cousin
doing here?

"Never
knew you were one for house parties, Gerald." His cousin was a
good-looking man—a bit too broad in the face, but the ladies seemed to like
him, even if he was a conceited oaf.

"Come
now, cuz, let's not play games. I know why you're here." The man dropped
his gaze to brush a speck of dirt off his waistcoat.

Contempt
flashed in Clayton's eyes. Gerald was a selfish prig. The meticulous pains he
took with his dress made Clayton dislike him all the more. "And may I
guess why you are here?"

"No
need to guess, cuz. You want Cathaven's treasure. Nothing surprising about
that."

"And
you are here for the very same reason, I presume?"

"The
devil, you don't think I aim to let you have it all, do you?" Gerald
singled out a piece of straw on the door beside him and flicked it to the
ground. "The thing is, cuz, as a gentleman, I aim to be fair about this.
Let you know I'm here and all that nonsense."

Clayton
dropped the reins in his hands and stepped back from the stall. "You
followed me here?"

"Not
exactly, but I ain't an idiot. Had it set a month ago to attend Grimstoke's.
But after that deuced will, I made other plans, parties and whatnot. Leaned
heavily on your character, cuz. Figured you would be looking for a bride at
some gathering or other. Suitable wife. Biddable. From a good family. All that
rubbish."

Gerald
laughed. "A case of mere chance you ended up here. Not that I didn't have
the other major events covered. Unfortunately, I could do nothing about an
intimate gathering you attended in Town or at one of Elbourne's stuffy balls.
Lucky for me you found nothing there. And this is one of the last grand house
parties of the Season."

With a
smug smile on his lips, Gerald leaned against the stable door. "Sent my
regrets to all the other parties the minute I heard you were coming here. My
valet is friend of your valet's sister, don't you know."

Clayton
barely stopped himself from strangling the man.

"Well,
cuz, don't look at me like that. Old Cathaven was a cantankerous old fellow,
but Zeus, never thought he had all that money. To tell you the truth, almost
popped a button on my brand new waistcoat when I found out."

Clayton
returned to his horse, pulling it from the stall. The man was a deuced
nuisance. "I fail to see how you following me will affect my choice. And
if by some chance you do meddle in my affairs, you will pay dearly."

"Dueling
is illegal, you know," the man sputtered. "Upon my word, cuz, you
can't do anything about me being here."

Clayton
glanced over his shoulder. "I never liked you,
cuz
. You're a
conceited, arrogant old fellow, and for the goodness of your health I would
advise you to return to London."

Sir
Gerald stiffened. "Listen here. I ain't about to take orders from you. And
just so we can be fair about this, I will tell you now that I will do anything
within the law to keep you from marrying before the allotted time."

He
sneezed. "Dratted stables. Don't like them at all. Dirty. Look at that.
Straw on my new boots. Won't do at all. Well, good day, cuz. See you tonight.
Grimstoke hired a quartet. Dancing and all that. Think I'll take a turn at the
red-haired chit you brought in last night."

Clayton's
hand froze on his saddle. "She won't be dancing."

"Won't
she? I don't think that carriage accident will stop her. Saw her stepping into
the library only minutes ago." He rubbed his nose with his handkerchief.
"Blasted stables."

He
sneezed again, then looked up. "Saw Kingsdale walking into the library,
too. Chit gets around, don't she?" He shook his head. "Well, au
revoir and all that." Flipping a hand in the air, the man disappeared
around the door.

Clayton
stepped back from his horse and slammed his riding whip against the stall.
"What the devil am I going to do with her, Belle?" The horse neighed.

Clayton
didn't know what he was more furious about, his cousin's presence, Kingsdale's
interest in Miss Garland, Miss Garland's gallivanting about the mansion when
she should be resting, or Kingsdale's meeting with the lady in the library.

He had
seen the lady staring out the window earlier. Even from the distance he had
seen her green eyes glittering with anger at how he had treated her the night
of the Elbourne ball. But he had seen the frank admiration in her eyes as well.