Ambersley (Lords of London) (48 page)

“
I’m sorry, Curtis. I shall be more careful. I just wish she were here to tell me whether she knew Reed would be leaving town.”

“
I told you, he said he had to go to Dover to help a friend. I don’t think he’d planned his trip at all.”

Olivia looked out at the swirling fog. “I wish he hadn’t gone in such rotten weather. Do you suppose he’ll arrive safely? You don’t suppose he’ll get lost in this?”

Curtis gave a snide laugh. “Reed Barlow won’t even notice the fog. The question is whether he could find his way to Dover on a clear day in broad daylight.”

“
Don’t say nasty things about him.” Olivia stamped her slippered foot. “I’m going to marry him.”

“
Heaven preserve us,” swore Curtis.

~

Derek pushed his steed as much as he dared, but the journey from Bath to London ran close enough to the river that fog made for dangerous traveling. He didn’t dare lame the horse by galloping into mists with no visibility, and once or twice even feared he’d taken a wrong turn.

The ride gave him ample time to remember his childhood and his father. He replayed the events leading up to his departure from his father’s home and saw clearly how his stepmother had manipulated him. She had to know Derek had misconstrued the truth. Natural enough, when you grew up as the son of the most notoriously promiscuous lady in London. How was he to know Alicia Vaughan had been a devoted bride until she learned her husband loved another?

Derek drew rein to get his bearings when the road forked, and chose the high road through Richmond. His thoughts returned to Rosalie. She’d tried to rule Ambersley during his absence, clearly hoping he would never return from India. For years, she’d made him feel like a thief within his own house, allowing him to rebuild Ambersley while plotting to strip him of his title. Then there was her role in unmasking Johnny—she’d driven her own children to tell lies about the boy because she felt Johnny had usurped Curtis’s position as Derek’s younger brother. And she’d forced Johanna’s marriage to secure her fortune for the Vaughan family.

Clearly, he had to remove Rosalie, once and for all, from their lives.

He knew he would be successful in dealing with his stepmother. He prayed he would be as fortunate with his wife.

The clocks chimed eleven as Derek’s horse crab-stepped along the cobbled streets of St. James. Derek had never been so happy to see the house on Grosvenor Square, lit up and welcoming. He strode into the hall, unfastening his cloak.

Paget bustled in to relieve him of the damp fabric. “Your Grace, we’d not expected you back tonight.”

“
Where’s Johanna?” He glanced up the stairs in hopes of catching a glimpse of her.

“
She’s not here, my lord.” Paget cleared his throat. “She went to the theater with Mr. Barlow.”

Derek stilled, his anticipation dwindling to disappointment. “When do you expect her home?”

“
She said she would be home when she came home,” the butler said quizzically.

He didn’t like the butler’s downcast eyes. “And—?”

“
She said we shouldn’t wait up.”

Uneasiness hummed through Derek’s veins at those words. He’d seen Johanna dancing and laughing with Reed Barlow, but that was nothing but innocent flirtation. Surely she didn’t love the handsome dolt. A glance at the hall clock told him the theater would only just have ended. With the crush of carriages, it could be another hour or more before she returned. There was no need to fret. Yet his uneasiness remained.

“
Very well, Paget.” Derek handed his gloves to the unhappy old hawk. “Anything else I should know?”

Paget cleared his throat. “Your brother and sister are awaiting Lady Ambersley in the drawing room.”

Derek frowned, but the butler offered no further information. Their eyes met and held for an instant before Derek nodded dismissal. He climbed the stairs to the drawing room slowly.

Curtis and Olivia pounced on him as soon as he opened the drawing room door.

“
Derek!” Curtis exclaimed with relief.

“
Where’s Johanna?” Olivia demanded.

Derek smiled ruefully at her unconscious selfishness and strode to the sideboard to pour a glass of brandy. The fog had left him chilled. “I’m told she went to the theater with Reed Barlow.”

“
What?” Olivia gave a horrified shriek. “That conniving little witch—she
stole
Reed. She must have planned it all along. What a fool I was to trust her.” Her cheeks turned red with rage, and her eyes grew icy.

Derek looked to Curtis for a clarification of this tirade, but his brother had stepped to the sideboard to fill a glass for himself.

“
Livvie, if you’re going to call my wife names, I’d appreciate an explanation.”

Instead of the guilty apology he expected, Olivia raised her chin. “We’ve been made fools, Derek. Your wife has run off with my fiancé. These past two weeks, she convinced me she was helping my cause. Mama didn’t approve my choice, so it was difficult for Reed and I to see each other. Johanna delivered notes between us, but apparently she spent so much time with Reed, she decided she wanted him for herself.”

Tension built within him, but he knew Olivia was prone to overreact. He took a hearty gulp of the strong amber liquid, hoping to warm his stiff fingers and cold toes. “It seems a bit far-fetched to assume they ran off together when Paget said they only went to the theater.”

Curtis drained his glass. “I must agree with Olivia. I believe they’ve left town together. Reed told me he needed to help a friend, and he’d be leaving London for a few days. He hired a coach this afternoon to take him to Dover and asked me to make his apologies to Livvie for they’d planned on meeting at a party this evening.”

“
How do you know about the coach?” Derek asked.

Curtis laughed. “I lent him the damn money for it. He said it was imperative that he go today, said his future happiness depended on it. I didn’t give it any thought. Reed is always over dramatizing things. But he didn’t have the money for the coach, and I lent it to him.” Curtis looked at his stepbrother’s stony face. “There must be some logical explanation, Derek. I cannot believe Johanna would run off with Reed Barlow. It makes no sense.”

The truth settled on him, denser and colder than the fog. She’d left him. He’d offered her a choice, and she’d chosen to go at once. “On the contrary. It all makes perfect sense,” Derek responded quietly. “Johanna and I fought last night. I suspect she convinced Reed to help her escape me.” He downed the remainder of his brandy.

His earlier euphoria fled before the engulfing pain of this loss. There would be no re-kindling of Johanna’s love if she’d left him. Just as St. John had predicted, Derek had held her away—despite his noble reasons—only to lose her. Perhaps it was best this way.

“
I want to kill both of them,” Olivia announced to the room at large.

Curtis looked from one to the other. “Why don’t we go after them? Derek, you cannot tell me you’re willing to have it known Johanna left you for Reed Barlow. They must pay for this. There’s no reason for them to go to Dover unless they’re leaving the country. High tide isn’t until afternoon, and we could reach Dover by midmorning.”

Olivia tugged on his arm. “Yes, let’s. Derek, you should call Reed out for trying to steal your wife.”

Derek couldn’t imagine calling out someone as inept as Reed Barlow. He’d derive much more satisfaction by calling out Johanna. No doubt she was the real culprit who’d somehow convinced Reed to carry her off at the opportunity Derek had allowed her. Besides, she’d be a far fairer match for him than Reed in a duel. Derek cursed himself. If he’d forced her to go to Bath with him, none of this would have happened. He could have saved his whole family another scandal.

Then another, more unnerving, possibility occurred to him. Reed Barlow was Worthing’s cousin. What if the dandy were conveying Johanna to her true love in Dover? Derek tried to picture Johanna living happily with St. John. After all, he’d offered her the chance to choose her love. A vision of Johanna naked in St. John’s arms obliterated any noble thoughts of letting her go. He was damned if he would allow any other man to steal what was his—not without fighting for her. St. John might be a better man, but he couldn’t love Johanna more than Derek, and he would move heaven and earth to tell her so.

“
Paget!” Derek turned to Curtis and Olivia. “I’m going to Dover. You may accompany me, but no complaining. The trip will be fast, and probably uncomfortable.”

“
I want to see them pay,” Olivia responded.

Curtis’s eyes flashed in agreement.

Derek nodded assent, but then seemed to catch himself. “Where’s your mother?”

“
Holed up with a headache,” Curtis said. “She took to her bed hours ago. I doubt she’ll know we’re gone.”

“
I’ll have Stokes deliver a note, so she won’t worry. Ah, Paget, tell Cushing to harness the grays to the chaise. We leave for Dover as soon as he’s able.”

Paget’s brows flew up in surprise, but he responded immediately to the command.

Derek turned back to his brother and sister. “We shall find them, fear not. And then we will lay bare the truth of this matter."

~

Less than an hour later, Derek stepped out to the mews lit by torches and lanterns. The horses were hitched, tossing restless heads and held in check by yawning grooms. Man and horse alike knew this was no hour to be traveling.

Paget handed a basket up to Cushing on the box. Wise man. No doubt the basket contained food to sustain them on their trek. Derek tucked the box he carried under his arm and went to join his siblings as Curtis handed Olivia into the chaise.

“
A family outing, at this odd hour?”

Derek turned at the familiar sarcasm to find St. John handing the reins of his horse to a groom.
Damn
. Even in the midst of this remarkable activity, the man appeared nothing but bored. Derek handed the box to Curtis. “Wait inside while I have a private word with Worthing. Store the box on the floor beneath the seat, but make certain we can reach it if we meet trouble.”

Curtis nodded before climbing into the chaise.

Derek strode to confront St. John. “Where is she?” he demanded.

St. John’s eyes glinted in the torchlight. “She’s not here?”

“
You know damn well she isn’t.”

“
I only know Johanna sent me a note earlier this afternoon saying she planned to join a theater party I was hosting. She never appeared.” St. John’s eyes narrowed. “What did you do to her?”

Derek’s jaw tightened at the accusation. “I drove her away. My wife has run off with your young cousin.” After last night, he hated to admit the situation to his rival, but his earlier uneasiness had returned. He needed answers, and St. John might have them.

“
Reed?” St. John snorted with contempt. “Unlikely, at best.”

“
Be that as it may, he laid his plans and stole away with my wife earlier tonight. We have reason to believe they’ve gone to Dover and may be sailing for the Continent. We hope to catch them. My brother and sister go with me.” Eager to set forth, Derek turned back to the coach.

“
May I come, too?”

The request, sincerely made, caught Derek off-guard. “To what purpose?”

“
To help my brother reclaim what he’s lost.” St. John regarded him steadily.

Derek swallowed. “I may have lost Johanna for good.”

“
I doubt that.” St. John put out his hand. “If you’ll have me, I’d like to help.”

Derek considered his former nemesis. So many of Derek’s judgments had been driven by wrong beliefs. They had much to forgive, but this man had proven a true friend to Johanna when she’d needed someone. He clasped St. John’s hand firmly. “Let us be off then."

Chapter 22

“
Do you think Olivia would mind if we only came to London for part of the Season? I’m not sure how I shall afford it, but if the duke lets us live at Ambersley part of the year—”