Deception (24 page)

Jared smiled. “She has been very kind to me, too. And I intend to see that nothing bad happens to her.”

“I say.” Robert grinned with relief. “If you’re going to look after her, then there’s no problem, is there?”

“Well,” Jared said slowly, “there is one slight difficulty remaining to be resolved before matters are settled to my satisfaction, but I am certain I can deal with the issue.”

Robert’s face crumpled with renewed concern. “What is the difficulty, sir? Perhaps we could help.”

“Yes, we’ll help,” Hugh said eagerly.

“Just tell us what needs doing,” Ethan added swiftly.

Jared stretched out his legs, leaned back, and braced his elbows on the arms of the chair. He touched his fingers together. “I have asked your aunt to marry me, but she has not yet consented to do so. Until she agrees, matters will remain a trifle unsettled, I fear.”

Ethan, Hugh, and Robert exchanged uneasy glances.

“There is,” Jared continued smoothly, “some urgency about the situation. Your aunt really ought to make up her mind to marry me as quickly as possible.”

“We shall speak to her,” Hugh said at once.

“Yes,” Ethan agreed. “I’m certain we can convince her to marry you, sir. Mrs. Bird says only a madwoman would refuse to marry under these circumstances.”

“Aunt Olympia is not really a madwoman,” Robert assured Jared. “Just a bit preoccupied at times. She is actually quite intelligent, you know. I’m sure we can convince her to marry you.”

“Excellent.” Jared sat forward and picked up his pen. “Go to work on the task, then. I shall see you at dinner.”

“Yes, sir.” Robert made his bow and led the way back to the door.

“We’ll handle this for you, sir,” Ethan told Jared. He sketched a quick, polite bow and dashed after Robert.

“Do not concern yourself, sir,” Hugh said confidently. “Aunt Olympia is very reasonable about most things. I’m certain we can get her to marry you.”

“Thank you, Hugh. I appreciate your assistance,” Jared said gravely.

Minotaur rose from the floor, wagged his tail enthusiastically, and trotted after the boys.

Jared waited until the door had closed behind his small band of trusty supporters before going back to his letter.

Another knock sounded on the door just as Jared was in the process of sealing his letter.

“Enter.”

The door opened and Mrs. Bird took one step into the room. She stopped and regarded Jared with wary belligerence. “I come to see what was going on here for meself.”

“Did you, Mrs. Bird?”

“Is it true what ye told the boys? Did ye ask Miss Olympia to marry you?”

“Yes, Mrs. Bird, I did. Not that it’s any of your business.”

Mrs. Bird appeared momentarily stunned. Then her expression turned to one of deep suspicion. “If ye asked Miss Olympia to marry ye, why ain’t she actin’ like a woman who’s about to be wed?”

“Probably because she rejected my offer.”

Mrs. Bird stared at him in horror. “She turned ye down?”

“I’m afraid so.”

“We’ll see about that.” Mrs. Bird shook her head. “That young lady ain’t never had a proper attitude toward some things. Not her fault. Miss Sophy and Miss
Ida raised her up with some strange notions. Still and all, she’s got to be made to see reason on this.”

“I shall trust you to guide her in the matter, Mrs. Bird.” Jared held out the letter. “By the by, would you kindly see that this gets posted?”

Mrs. Bird slowly took the letter from his hand. “Are ye a real viscount?”

“Yes, Mrs. Bird. I am.”

“In that case, we’d best get Miss Olympia married off to ye afore ye change yer mind. She ain’t likely to do any better than a viscount.”

“I’m glad you feel that way, Mrs. Bird.”

Olympia put down her pen and gazed thoughtfully at the mysterious phrase she had just unraveled.

It made no sense, just as the warning about the Guardian made no sense. But Olympia was virtually certain it was another piece of the puzzle.

Before she could consider the problem further, a knock sounded on the study door.

“Enter,” she called absently, her attention still on the new clue.

The door opened. Mrs. Bird, Robert, Ethan, and Hugh filed into the study and arranged themselves in a line in front of her desk. Minotaur ambled in behind Hugh and took up a position at the end of the column.

Olympia reluctantly looked up from the Lightbourne diary and found herself faced by a row of determined faces. She gazed back in bemusement.

“Good afternoon,” Olympia said. “Is there a problem?”

“Aye,” Mrs. Bird said. “There be a problem all right.”

Robert, Ethan, and Hugh nodded in agreement.

“Perhaps you’d better see Mr. Chillhurst about it then,” Olympia said, her attention still on the phrase that she had just finished transcribing. “He’s very good at sorting out problems.”

“Yer forgettin’ that he be the Viscount Chillhurst now,” Mrs. Bird said brusquely.

“Yes, Aunt Olympia,” Ethan said helpfully, “You must address him as his lordship now.”

“Oh, yes. You’re quite right. It slipped my mind again. Very well, take the problem to his lordship.” Olympia smiled distractedly. “I’m sure he’ll deal with it. He always does.”

Robert drew himself up stiffly. “Begging your pardon, Aunt Olympia, but you’re the problem.”

“I am?” Olympia looked to Mrs. Bird for explanations. “What is this all about?”

Mrs. Bird made fists of her hands on her broad hips and set her mouth in an inflexible line. “That bloody pirate says he’s asked you to marry him.”

Olympia was suddenly wary. “What of it?”

“He also says ye haven’t accepted his proposal yet,” Mrs. Bird continued.

Olympia gave her a determinedly reasonable smile. “I can hardly marry a viscount, can I?”

“Why not?” Robert demanded.

“Yes, why not?” Ethan chorused.

Olympia frowned. “Well, he’s a
viscount
. Some day he’ll be an earl. He needs a proper wife, not someone like me.”

“What’s wrong with you?” Hugh asked. “I like you just the way you are.”

“Yes, you are a very nice sort of female,” Robert said loyally.

“What’s more, ye be the one his lordship ruined, Miss Olympia,” Mrs. Bird muttered. “And ye be the one he wants to marry.”

“I explained to Mr. Chillhurst, I mean, I explained to Lord Chillhurst, that you were not ruined after all,” Ethan said. “I told him that you were really quite fit, but he still thinks you should marry him.”

“That’s right,” Hugh added. “And we think you should marry him, too, Aunt Olympia. If you do not, he might decide to leave and we’ll probably have to get a new tutor. We shall very likely not be able to find one who knows all about Captain Jack and how to measure the distance across a stream without crossing it and why a kite can fly.”

“It’s a matter of honor,” Robert said darkly.

Olympia was stricken with yet another of the uneasy chills that she had been experiencing all day.

While it was very true that, as a woman of the world, she was not particularly concerned about her own reputation, there was no denying that Jared was a proud man. His honor would matter a great deal to him. If he truly felt that he had to marry her in order to satisfy his own sense of honor, she did not know what she could do about it.

“Who said that it was a matter of honor?” Olympia asked carefully. “Did Chillhurst tell you that, Robert?”

“I’m the one what told Master Robert that it was a
matter of honor,” Mrs. Bird said. “It’s a fact and ye know it, Miss Olympia.”

Olympia glanced at the expectant faces of her nephews. “Perhaps we should continue this conversation in private, Mrs. Bird.”

“No,” Robert said quickly, “we told his lordship that we would all speak to you about this.”

Olympia eyed Robert closely. “Did you, indeed?”

“Yes and he seemed quite happy to have our assistance,” Robert assured her.

“I see.” Olympia straightened in her chair. For Jared to stoop to such tactics could only mean that he was quite determined to secure her compliance.

Mrs. Bird appeared to realize that things had taken a new turn. After a sharp glance at Olympia’s face, she shooed the boys toward the door. “Right, then. Ye three have had yer say. Run along upstairs. I’ll finish talkin’ to Miss Olympia.”

Robert looked skeptical. “You will call us if you need us, Mrs. Bird?”

“Aye, I’ll do that. Be off with ye now.”

The three boys made their bows and marched back out of the room. Minotaur followed. As soon as the door of the study closed behind the little group, there was a rush of feet and the sound of dog claws on the floor.

Olympia listened to the pounding on the stairs and the thundering footsteps that followed in the upstairs hall. No one pounded and thundered that way when Jared was about, she thought.

“I take it his lordship is not at home?” Olympia said.

“No, Miss Olympia, his lordship has gone out for the afternoon.” Mrs. Bird angled her chin. “Said he had important business. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s out obtainin’ a special license.”

“Oh, dear.” Olympia closed the diary and leaned back in her chair. “Whatever am I going to do, Mrs. Bird?”

“Marry the man.”

“I cannot do that.”

“Because ye don’t think ye’ll make him a suitable viscountess?”

“No, I expect I could learn whatever it is I need to know about being a viscountess. It cannot be all that difficult.”

“Then what’s the real reason ye won’t marry him?”

Olympia glanced toward the window. “The real reason I cannot marry him is because he does not love me.”

“Bah. I was afeared it were somethin’ like that. Now ye listen to me, Miss Olympia, love ain’t no reason fer marrying in the first place.”

“I disagree, Mrs. Bird,” Olympia said distantly. “I cannot imagine marrying a man who does not love me.”

“Apparently ye don’t mind havin’ an affair with him,” Mrs. Bird shot back.

Olympia winced at the arrow of truth. “You do not understand,” she mumbled.

“I most certainly do understand. When are ye gonna learn to be practical? Ye want to know what yer real problem is?” Mrs. Bird leaned forward aggressively. “Ye’ve spent so many years with them books of yers, trackin’ down strange legends and learnin’ strange, foreign ways, that ye ain’t learned to be logical about the important things.”

Olympia rubbed her forehead. She had developed a headache this afternoon. She almost never had the headache. “He has only asked me to marry him because his fiancée saw us together yesterday in Winslow’s Mechanical Museum.”

“Fiancée.”
Mrs. Bird gave her a scandalized look. “That wicked pirate’s got himself a fiancée? He’s been
livin’ under yer roof, plotting to ruin you while he’s got himself a fiancée stashed away someplace?”

“No, no, she’s Lady Beaumont now.” Olympia sighed. “The engagement was ended some three years ago, I believe.”

“Why?” Mrs. Bird asked bluntly.

“They did not suit.”

“Hah. There’s more to the tale than that, I’ll wager.” Mrs. Bird got a strange look in her eye. “Might not hurt to find out what happened between his lordship and his fiancée three years ago.”

“Why?” Olympia gave her a quick, searching glance. “It is certainly none of my affair.”

“I ain’t so sure about that. His lordship is a very unusual man, if you ask me. ’Course, the fancy often is a bit odd. All the same, I ain’t never known one as strange as Lord Chillhurst.”

“You have not known any members of the fancy, as you call them, at all, Mrs. Bird. What would you know about their normal behavior?”

“I know it ain’t proper for one of ’em to pretend he’s a tutor when he ain’t,” Mrs. Bird retorted.

“Chillhurst had his reasons.”

“Did he now?” Mrs. Bird frowned as Olympia rubbed her forehead again. “What’s wrong with yer head? Got the headache?”

“Yes. Perhaps I shall go upstairs and rest for a while.”

“I’ll get ye some of me camphor and ammoniac tonic. Works wonders.”

“Thank you.” Anything to get away from Mrs. Bird’s arguments in favor of marriage to Jared, Olympia thought. She did not want to hear any more such logic. She was already fighting hard enough as it was to resist her heart’s desire. She got to her feet.

The brass door knocker clanged sharply just as she
started around her desk. Minotaur’s muffled bark sounded from the floor above.

“I’ll wager that’s his lordship. Probably cannot open the door for himself now that he’s a viscount.” Mrs. Bird bustled out into the hall. “The fancy’s an arrogant lot.”

Olympia calculated the distance to the stairs. If she moved quickly she could seclude herself in her bedchamber before Jared tried to corner her in the study.

She was tiptoeing toward the door when she heard the sound of voices in the hall. She froze when she recognized two of the three.

“I’ll see if her ladyship is at home,” Mrs. Bird said in a tone Olympia had never heard her use before. It had an entirely new element of lofty disdain in it.

A moment later Mrs. Bird appeared in the doorway of the study. Her face was flushed red with excitement. “Two ladies and a gentleman have come to call,” she hissed. “They asked for the Viscountess Chillhurst. They think yer already married to his lordship.”

“I know. Damnation. This would have to happen.”

“I put ’em in the front parlor.”

“Tell them I am ill, Mrs. Bird.”

Mrs. Bird drew herself up with the air of a general going into battle. “Ye’ll have to see ’em or they’ll wonder what’s goin’ on. We can handle this.”

“Not without Chillhurst.”