A Woman Made for Pleasure (37 page)

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Authors: Michele Sinclair

Tags: #Fiction, #General

BOOK: A Woman Made for Pleasure
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Her comment reminded Chase of what had happened right before he blacked out. Millie could read his thoughts, though he gave them no voice. “Don’t worry. Lord Marston is still bound quite securely. Though now he is gagged and a much quieter captive. There is a chance he will not be found.” Her lack of belief in that possibility was evident in her tone.
Chase stared at her. Millie was trying so hard to spare his feelings. He reached for her and pulled her to his side. “Who is he, Millie? Who visited you?”
Tears filled her eyes, and he could feel them splash on his arm as he attempted to soothe her. “Sir Edward. He told me everything. How your father was a Rebuilder. How you are a part of it now.” She moved out of his embrace and again wiped away her tears. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Chase considered forcing her back into his arms but decided against it. “What I told you was the truth, Millie. There is an Expansionist movement, and my father was one of five Rebuilders working against it. At first, it was just a philosophical difference between the two groups. But then more and more signs appeared that England’s participation in war, and its actions after war, were being influenced by a shadow leader within the Expansionist movement. Five Rebuilder nobles searched for proof, and for the identity of the Expansionist conspirator. Each conducted his own investigation, very carefully and, even more importantly, privately.”
“You went into the war.”
“My father was positive that someone inside the war department was a traitor. He needed someone inside to discover who it was.”
“Blast it to bloody hell . . . Sir Edward.”
Chase smiled and stroked her cheek with his knuckle. “For once, I agree with your . . . coarse expression. Somehow, my father must have found something tying Sir Edward to his traitorous acts. Something irrefutable. Do you have any idea what it is?”
Millie sat back, shocked at the seriousness of the question. “Heavens, no. How could I?”
“Because you, Aimee, and Jennelle have possessed the truth for some time.”
Millie’s brows furrowed in disbelief. “If you are referring to those,” she said, pointing, “then you are mistaken. Your father hid nothing in them, Chase. Believe me. What he bestowed made no sense. He gave Jennelle a large journal with blank pages, and Aimee an old, empty wooden chest.”
“I thought you said my father gave you a key.”
“‘Key’ is the name of the book. I assure you there is nothing in the chest or the book. And my amulet, well . . . it is just that. An amulet. The only thing they have in common is the crest. It appears on all three items.”
“There must be something there, Millie.”
She shook her head. “How can you be so sure?”
“My father wrote of three markers, unmistakable to any Rebuilder who knew to look for them, that when put together, would give undeniable proof of the traitor’s deeds.”
“Bloody hell,” Millie mouthed and rocked back, hugging her knees.
“When Eischel found my father’s letter, he immediately reached out to his contacts, Viscount Darlouney and—since my father was dead—me. Darlouney sought Brumby and Edward. Never did anyone realize they were setting off a chain of events that would eventually lead to their deaths.”
“That was why you wanted me to ignore Lord Brumby. He knew it was Sir Edward, didn’t he?”
“Not at first, but I think by the time I met with him, he suspected Edward. That was why if anyone saw you watching Brumby, they might have wondered why and assumed you knew more than you did.”
“But if Brumby knew who the traitor was, why didn’t he tell you or anyone else?”
“At first, I think he was unconvinced and didn’t want to taint a man’s reputation solely upon suspicion. Later, fear drove him to irrational decisions. Three men had already lost their lives. I think he wanted to tell me at Alstar’s, but he got spooked. I believe, given time, he would have confided in me. Edward must have suspected my ability to influence Brumby and silenced him before we could meet again. I should have realized who it was then. Only Edward could kill a man in a crowd and disappear without being seen.”
“Oh my,” was all Millie could whisper. Chase’s father, Lord Brumby—all those men. How could anyone be so filled with hate and self-importance? How were they going to find Sir Edward and stop him?
Millie let go of her knees and leaned back against the rock wall. She rested her head against the uncomfortable stone surface and closed her eyes. She was so tired. So much had happened.
 
 
She heard a scraping sound from the other side of the cave and stirred. Her brow crinkled in confusion. She was lying where Chase had been sleeping. She sat up and looked around, spotting Chase on the other side of the fire. He was struggling with Aimee’s chest.
“Chase, whatever are you doing?” she asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
Chase raised his head, concern filling his expression. “Are you all right, love? You fell fast asleep as you were attempting to complete a thought.”
Millie pushed the loose hairs away from her eyes. “When did you move me?
How
did you move me?”
Chase glanced at his watch fob. “Hmm. It’s nearly ten in the morning. So I would estimate nine hours ago. And as for moving you, I would not say my leg is completely repaired, but I have survived being shot before, and I will do so again. At least long enough to do what must be done.”
His admission jolted her, and she shot to her feet. “You’ve been shot before! How many times?”
“Twice. You saw the scars on my back,” he answered nonchalantly, continuing to examine the chest.
“Those were
gunshot
wounds?” Millie asked in horror.
An inexplicable grin appeared as Chase remembered the shots and the fight following them. “Indeed. An unfortunate misjudgment on my part of exactly when an ambush was to occur.”
Millie shook her head. “You knew men were laying a trap for you?”
“Of course.”
“Then why the bloody hell did you allow yourself to get shot? Twice?”
“No one
allows
himself to get shot, love. But sometimes it does happen.” Chase pointed to his leg to validate his comment and again focused on the chest.
It was obvious Chase was not going to admit any wrongdoing or profess any promises to be more careful in the future, especially when most of his energy was focused on Aimee’s lap-size wooden box. Beside him were various odds and ends Aimee, Jennelle, and she had put in the box as their most treasured possessions. One of which was a small handkerchief she recognized as belonging to Reece.
“Why does that chest interest you so?”
“It has a hidden compartment.”
Millie bit her bottom lip to keep from laughing. Hidden sections were hard to disguise and the chest, while not small, was about the size of a large hat box. A false bottom or side, even a small one, would be easily recognizable.
Chase grunted and continued playing with the golden crest on the chest. It was embossed, giving one the idea that something might fit into it. Chase was trying unsuccessfully to fit her amulet into the grooves of the crest, just as Aimee, Jennelle, and she had done when they first received the items.
“I interpreted the ‘Key’ while you were asleep,” he continued. “I am now attempting to follow its instructions. Unfortunately, after all these years, the lock must have rusted.”
Knowing otherwise, Millie knelt down and looked closer. “You said the Key told you to do this?”
“Read the dedication on the inside.”
Millie sat down, picked up the unusually large book, and fingered the hand-sized crest on the cover. It was a bigger version of her amulet. Surrounding the amethyst were two gold stags, one standing on a sword, the other on a rock, with a knotted ring of gold encircling them. She flipped open the book. She had read the words countless times, and still, she could decipher no special meaning.
To Lady Jennelle Gent,
 
I give you this Key and its crest that it
may forever be used to turn and bring forth
what you seek.
 
Lord Chaselton
Millie watched Chase fit her pendant into the chest’s impression of the crest and try again to turn the item. Suddenly the embossed crest loosened and fell onto the earthen floor.
Chase examined the box, but it remained unchanged. “It cannot be,” he mumbled softly, pressing each side again to affirm its solidity. “It has to be here.”
Millie reached down and retrieved the fallen crest, turning it over in her hands. “Charles, look here.”
He put down the empty box and came closer. Millie showed him the crest that had fallen off and turned it over. On the other side was a jeweled amulet, similar but not the same size as her own.
Chase picked up the book and read its inscription aloud. “‘I give you the key
and its crest
.’”
He looked up. As he gazed into her purple pools sparkling with wonder, he marveled at their ability to become more captivating with each hour. Millie read the desire in his eyes and met him halfway as his mouth closed roughly over hers, searing her forever to him.
He released her lips. He wanted so badly to make love to her, but he needed to know she was safe. “Millie, the amulet—the one from the chest.”
She handed over the golden item and saw him place it easily into the book’s larger version. With a small twist, it popped and then the book’s large gold emblem sprung open. Inside were three folded papers.
Chase carefully picked them up one by one and read them. Silence filled the cave as he refolded each item and wrapped it in a piece of protective leather.
“We need to leave, Millie. Collect only what is necessary.”
Nodding, Millie gathered the few items, including her amulet and Reece’s handkerchief, and put them into her pouch before following Chase farther into the cave. “Chase, I do not think we can get out this way. I used the boulder as an anchor for the rope to lower you in here. Your weight pulled it back over the opening. I tried several times, but it would not budge.”
Chase approached and saw a dangling rope wedged between the rock and the jagged lip of the entrance. He handed the makeshift torch to Millie and used his shoulder to try and shove the large barrier.
“Damn,” he muttered, reaching back for the torch. “I have no leverage.” He brought the torch closer and examined the boulder for several more minutes. He rubbed the thickening stubble on his face. “Well, my dear, if we are not quick we will have to wait until the tide has turned before we can leave.”
“But wouldn’t that be best? It would give you more time to rest. No one knows we are here.”
Chase leaned on the rocky wall for support as he quickly maneuvered down the steep path to the cave’s cliffside entrance. The rope Millie had used was exposed on the surface. The sun had risen hours ago. If Edward had followed Millie, at any time he would stumble onto the evidence leading him to their location. “Time is against us, love. The longer we spend here, the more time Edward has to find us,” Chase explained, deciding not to expound on all the reasons behind his urgency. “We need to leave immediately. I can hear the tide rising even now. We must reach the entrance before the water enters the cave. The icy currents in the Channel can easily drown a man. Although I do recall one spunky young girl claiming she was a fair swimmer,” Chase teased. He knew it would restore her spirits. It did.
“I told you I was an
excellent
swimmer. And I’ll have you know that I still am,” Millie said, stopping to remove a pebble lodged in her boot.
She watched him disappear around the corner. “Blasted man,” she muttered to herself. Even injured, his long legs could move faster than anyone she knew. The least he could do was wait for her.
She took off the overly large boot and shook it. Nothing fell out. Millie reached in and discovered that it was not a rock at all causing her discomfort. Part of the leather on the inside had curled and was now rubbing her foot raw. “Nothing I can do about that,” she grumbled.
She looked down the cave and could see a light emanating from around the corner. She sighed and yanked on the boot, murmuring under her breath, “I am no longer a child, Charlie Wentworth, and while I understand your urgency, does it necessitate your leaving me? I think not. I could have fallen. I could be hurt right now, and would you know? No, you would just wait until I finally collected myself and ran obediently to your side.”
She smoothed back her loose locks and glared down the cave. Chase had still not returned, but the light was still shining just around the corner. He was waiting for her. “And probably going to give me a good scolding when I arrive. Well, just get your own self prepared, Charlie, because I have a few words I want to share with you as well,” Millie fussed as she intentionally took her time walking down the rocky passageway.
Just as she neared the corner, Millie stopped cold. Someone was talking in a foreign accent. The voice was evil, cold, and full of hate. Millie instantly knew who it was—Sir Edward. They were too late.

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