Jo Goodman (16 page)

Aubrey decided he did not want to be drawn into an argument, certainly not an argument about women. He'd observed for himself over the years that he'd been with Colin Thorne, that his captain preferred to hold himself aloof from female entanglements. Neither did he have much to do with men beyond what was demanded by business. Aubrey counted himself as Colin's friend, but he was never certain that Colin did. Colin Thorne preferred to keep his own counsel, and Aubrey figured he'd gotten as close as he had by respecting Colin's right to do just that.

Aubrey leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes. "You think about women your way," he said. "And I'll think about them mine. But ask yourself how it is that I passed a pleasant night wedged comfortably between feminine book-ends while you spent it battened down to the floor."

"You're with me now, aren't you?" Colin pointed out. "And unless I've confused the two, it was your dear Sylvia who actually pushed the door shut."

Aubrey's smile was serene. "Yes, but she did it gently. I could see it troubled her."

"Oh, well that's all right, then," Colin said.

Aubrey chuckled at his captain's dry sarcasm. "She was following orders I'm sure. You must know that."

Colin nodded. "It occurred to me."

Another vision suddenly leaped to Aubrey's mind. "She's someone to be reckoned with."

"I assume we're talking about Mercedes now."

"Hmm-mm. It's hard to believe that bit of a thing was able to truss you like my Aunt Esmy's Christmas goose."

"You're really enjoying yourself, aren't you?"

Aubrey's broad shoulders heaved once in a massive shrug. "Trying to make the best of a bad situation." He opened his eyes just enough to dart a glance in Colin's direction. He didn't think he imagined the smile that was edging his captain's mouth. "Have you considered what you're going to say to her?"

"I'm considering it now."

So that sliver of a smile wasn't prompted by anything he'd said, Aubrey realized. Poor Mercedes. It didn't bode well for her. "Don't be too hard on her," he said. "She's probably only following orders herself."

"Aubrey," Colin said flatly. "She tried to kill me."

"Maim you, more likely."

"I was there, Aubrey.
Under
the knife. She tried to kill me."

"I'm only saying that she could have killed you after she knocked you out and she didn't. It makes me wonder what her intentions really were."

"You can ask her yourself. I think I hear her on the stairs now."

Aubrey didn't ask what made Colin so certain he could distinguish Mercedes's footfalls from any others he could have heard. That question was sure to be answered with a dark look. Aubrey figured he'd already risked as much of that as he dared for now.

Both men sat up a bit straighter as the bar across the door was lifted and set aside. The door itself resisted easy opening because of hinges that had begun to rust. The grating sound raised the hair at the back of Colin's neck, but he didn't offer any assistance.

Mercedes only cracked the door wide enough for her to slip inside. It didn't open directly into the turret room. She was confronted first by the narrow and steep stairwell that wound up to the room. There was no handrail so she placed one palm on the wall to steady her climb and raised her gown a few inches to keep from tripping.

"My God," she said when she reached the top and saw both men seated casually on the floor. "You really
are
here."

Colin gave in to temptation. He put his hands together slowly and rhythmically, applauding what he was certain was a performance.

Mercedes's chin came up and she said coldly, "I don't know what that's in aid of, Captain Thorne, but I'm sure you mean to be insulting."

He stopped clapping. "I'll add perceptive to all your other traits."

She ignored him, turning her attention instead to Aubrey. "Mr. Jones, is it?" she asked. "My most heartfelt apologies. When you and Captain Thorne didn't return with Ben Fitch's search group, I asked the twins if they'd seen you leave. They seemed surprised by the question."

"I wonder why," Colin interjected dryly.

Mercedes went on as if she hadn't heard. "Sylvia and Chloe have admitted their part in it. I'm afraid between them and the boys they were quite convinced this was
my
wish. It simply isn't so. In fact, I purposely set out to look for you to warn you." She offered Aubrey her hand to help him to his feet.

Aubrey looked at her extended hand, then looked at her. She was hardly more substantial than either of her female cousins. "Miss Leyden," he said frankly. "If I was to take that hand I'd still be sitting here in the end—only you'd be in my lap. Now, I won't be insulted if you take it back."

Mercedes's smile momentarily transformed her face. The small vertical crease between her brows was erased and her gray eyes cleared. "I'm stronger than you might think."

Aubrey chuckled. "I'm not going to risk it."

"Good thinking, Aubrey. You haven't checked for weapons."

Aubrey saw that while Mercedes's smile remained, it was forced now, more a parody of what she thought a smile should be. Requiring no assistance, Aubrey came to his feet fluidly. "Beggin' your pardon, ma'am, but the captain doesn't take well to being confined. And this
is
the second time in as many days that it's been done to him. Not that I find it a pleasure either," he added. "But I suppose your cousins were getting a little of their own back after that business in the other Miss Leyden's room."

"You mean Sylvia's," said Mercedes.

"Is that her name?" he asked. Over Mercedes's shoulder he caught Colin rolling his eyes. He pretended he hadn't seen and went on politely. "Well, then I must mean her. One of them looks a lot like the other."

"I wouldn't mention it to them," she said confidentially. Her first impression aside, Mercedes found Aubrey Jones very easy to like. "Perhaps you can tell me what really happened. I've never known Sylvia to take much notice of a mouse before."

"Perhaps you should ask her," he said.

"Oh, I have. For some reason she's sticking to her story. When I first heard it I was certain she merely invented it for Severn's benefit."

Colin smirked. "Adept liars, all of them." He saw Mercedes's shoulders stiffen but she didn't turn. Aubrey looked a little pained. Colin found his response to Mercedes interesting. It seemed he wouldn't be able to count on Aubrey Jones to watch his back.

"Perhaps there was a mouse," Aubrey said, not willing to disclose that Sylvia was lying. "I know for a fact that I startled her when I entered her room. I heard a noise and that's what led me there. I thought it might be the earl. Instead I surprised Miss Leyden. She'd been reading, I think. There was a book on the floor beside her chair. It may be I heard it drop."

Mercedes considered this explanation, her head tilted slightly to one side. " I was afraid you'd barged in on her while she was changing her clothes," she said. "I noticed when she somersaulted over your head that the back of her gown was undone."

Aubrey shifted his weight from one foot to the other. She was very observant. Even Colin hadn't noticed that. He was sure he'd have heard about it sometime during these last interminable hours. He managed not to stutter in replying. "I wouldn't know about that."

Colin was finally enjoying himself. "It seemed to me that when Severn and the others arrived you were careful to keep the young lady's back to yourself. Either you took note of her state and were playing the gentleman, or you were oblivious and merely being cruel."

Aubrey was saved from choosing either explanation for his behavior by Mercedes. She spun on her heel and fixed Colin with an icy glance. "I don't remember inviting you to join this conversation. Mr. Jones and I have come to our own understanding. He knows now that I'm not a fool, and I know he's infinitely more gallant than his captain." Having put Colin firmly in his place, she added for Aubrey's benefit, "And it's no good smirking at him behind my back. It's hardly becoming."

"And disrespectful to boot," Colin said.

Aubrey's eyes widened. Dumbfounded, he swept his fingers through his thick red hair. "Damn me if she doesn't have eyes at the back of her head."

Mercedes turned around. "If you'd excuse us, Mr. Jones. I'd like to speak to Captain Thorne in private."

Colin got to his feet. "Not here. I'm not taking a chance on getting locked in again."

"You were hardly locked in," Mercedes said. "The door was barred, yes, but there is an access right here that leads to the roof." She pointed to a marked section of the ceiling. Virtually concealed by the water stain was the outline of a panel which could be lifted to exit to the roof. "Someone on the grounds would have heard you shout."

Aubrey sighed and spoke as if to himself. "And didn't I suggest we look for such a thing?"

Colin's dark look was quelling. "Didn't you also mention some business of a personal nature you wanted to be about?"

Mercedes saw Aubrey flush and took pity on him. "You may use any of the bedrooms in the south wing, except the earl's, to refresh yourself. Mrs. Hennepin will direct someone to get whatever you require. You're invited to join us for dinner, but after I speak to Captain Thorne you may decide quite properly that it isn't in your best interest to do so."

"Thank you, Miss Leyden. I'll keep that in mind." He started down the stairs, practically filling the passage with the breadth of his shoulders.

Mercedes watched Aubrey duck through the doorway before she spoke. "The same offer is open to you," she told Colin. "If you wish, I'll wait for you in the earl's library. Anyone can show you where it is."

Colin was not of a mind to let her out of his sight, but like Aubrey, he had certain needs even if he hadn't been vocal about them. He consulted his pocket watch. "Twenty minutes," he said.

She nodded. "I'll have Mrs. Hennepin prepare some tea and cakes."

Eighteen minutes later Colin joined Mercedes in the library. A silver salver held the promised tea and cakes. He politely but firmly refused her offer. He was not going to make this easy for her, and allowing her to play the role of the gracious hostess, when she was anything but, would have made her more comfortable. When she sat down in the large leather wing chair, he chose to remain standing, ostensibly to look around the room, but in fact, to keep her on edge.

The library, he observed, was one of the manor's better appointed rooms. He supposed that was because it was the earl's domain. His lordship apparently hadn't seen fit to deny himself what he denied members of his family. The furnishings were all cherry wood, buffed to a high gloss without a random scratch on any surface. The large desk had brass fittings and was situated near the fireplace. In the winter and cold, damp springs it would be the most comfortable place in the room. Shelving comprised two walls complete from floor to ceiling. They were crowded with leather-bound volumes, some shelves devoted to the complete works of writers like Shakespeare and Jonson.

The carpet beneath Colin's feet wasn't worn as so many others in the manor were. He wondered at it until he noticed slightly faded sections in the shape of furniture that wasn't of this room. He correctly surmised it had been brought from another room in the house to accommodate the earl's need to keep up appearances. He also imagined that it fell on Mercedes's shoulders to make it so.

Colin hooked his hip on the edge of the earl's desk and stretched one leg out to support himself. He saw Mercedes worry her lower lip as he idly rearranged some of Weybourne's personal items to make more room.

"Won't you have a seat?" she encouraged politely.

"No."

Mercedes sank back a little. So far, this meeting was not going as planned. She looked forlornly at the tea and cakes and wondered if she dared offer him any a third time.

Catching her look, Colin said, "And no. I don't want any."

"But you haven't eaten since breakfast."

"Not even then." He was silent, his light brows slightly raised, his expression expectant. When she had the grace to look away, he said, "I see you
do
remember why that would be so."

"I take it Mr. Jones is the one who freed you."

"That's right. I don't suppose you considered that I would have a second, else you might have killed me after all."

Mercedes didn't want to think about that possibility. What was done, was done. Afraid of the answer, she was not going to ask herself how she might have handled things differently. "I'm not sorry that you're all of a piece," she said. That, at least, was honest. It had never been her wish to see him dead.

"You'll understand if I don't believe you," Colin said. "Just as I don't believe that tale you handed Aubrey upstairs." Mercedes looked at him blankly so he laid it out for her. "You told him that your cousins planned our imprisonment on their own."

"That's quite true."

"I distinctly remember you telling them to show us the turret rooms. North and south."

"I believe I was responding to a question from one of the twins."

"It's convenient for you to recall it that way. I remember an undertone to the exchange."

Mercedes folded her hands in her lap and regarded Colin for a few moments without speaking. "You're a very suspicious man, aren't you?" she said when she was through with her appraisal.