London's Most Wanted Rake (19 page)

Alina couldn’t help but smile at the other woman’s warm intentions. She was not used to such openness. She was used to interrogation and deceit. She’d had few female friends in her life. Her marriage had not left room for friendships and she had not formed any friendships beyond acquaintances since her return to England. Still, it was a bit too soon to assume these fine women would be her friends. They might assist her for Channing’s sake, but that was all she should hope for. When the investigation was over and it became clear there was no future between her and Channing, these women might change their minds.

Alina thought of Channing’s offer that morning. If she were to marry Channing, his friends and family would work hard to make her socially acceptable. They wouldn’t tolerate him being ostracised over his choice of wife. She opted for honesty. ‘I did not ask Channing for all of you to come here today. This was his idea. In fact, his interference has been entirely his idea from the start. I had planned to manage Seymour on my own.’

She gave a wave of her hand. ‘But you know what Channing’s like when he sees someone in need.’ Maybe these women knew about the boys at Argosy House whom Channing had saved from the streets, about the young gentlemen he’d helped, like Annorah’s Nick, to pull their families out of genteel poverty with the agency.

Annorah smiled. ‘I know Channing has a soft heart.’

‘I wouldn’t hurt Channing for the world,’ Alina answered the unspoken challenge. ‘What should occur to you is that I don’t want him to risk anything more.’

‘Don’t worry,’ Cassandra said evenly, placing a hand on her arm. ‘Channing can take care of himself. He and Jocelyn once saved the League by pretending the League shipped Bibles to Africa.’

Cassandra regaled them with the story, since it had happened after Nick had left the League. The group finished their walk in laughter and rejoined the men inside. Everyone mingled in the hall briefly but it was clear the visit was over. His friends would meet now and decide what was to be done. Jocelyn and Nick shook Channing’s hand. ‘We’ll be at White’s tomorrow around three. Why don’t you stop in and have a drink?’

‘I would be delighted. It’s been a while since we’ve had a drink together.’ Channing laughed. ‘You’ve become old married men.’

Jocelyn glanced at his wife, his eyes filling with that indefinable something that made Alina’s heart ache. ‘It’s not the worst thing to be,’ he said. ‘Until tomorrow, Channing.’

Alina watched them go with trepidation. It would be a long twenty-four hours while she waited for the League to pass their verdict. It wasn’t only about helping her. She’d wade through the Seymour situation on her own if need be. This was a verdict about her, about whether or not she was worthy of Channing. She cast a quick glance at Channing and was suddenly overcome with the realisation of all he was willing to do for her.

‘Shall we drive through the park?’ Channing suggested. It was an effort to distract her and perhaps a declaration of his own that he would stand by her regardless of his friends’ decision.

‘Are you sure? We’ll be seen together.’ She didn’t want him to sacrifice himself needlessly.

He turned his head and smiled. ‘Maybe it’s time that happens. I meant what I said this morning.’ He nudged her with his elbow, his eyes lighting up with mischief. ‘Besides, it’s not the first time Channing Deveril has been seen driving a beautiful woman.’

Chapter Nineteen

W
hite’s was a calculated move on Jocelyn’s part, an all-male club and a long-standing bastion of titled men for one hundred and fifty years. It also ensured Channing would come alone.

Jocelyn and Nick were waiting for him when he arrived, already settled at a quiet table in a far corner where they wouldn’t be disturbed. They rose and embraced him. There was no question of their loyalty to one another. Channing wondered how those values would play out now in the wake of Alina’s scandal. Would they opt to advise him to distance himself from her or would his friends take her into the fold?

Jocelyn poured each of them a glass from the bottle on the table. ‘A whole bottle?’ Channing teased. ‘We’ll be here all afternoon.’ He wasn’t sure what kind of sign that was. None of them was a heavy drinker and a bottle seemed quite ambitious.

‘We don’t have to drink it all.’ Jocelyn set the bottle down. ‘I didn’t want to be interrupted by a waiter. I thought a bottle would ensure our privacy.’ He smiled, but his eyes were serious. ‘It seems we have a lot to talk about.’

‘I explained everything yesterday, Seymour has made a habit of taking loans out against properties that aren’t his—’

‘No,’ Jocelyn interrupted. ‘That’s not what I was talking about. I was thinking of you and Alina. I want to know what your intentions are. Is this agency business or is it something else?’ Jocelyn fixed him with a serious, dark-eyed stare. ‘If it is agency business, I don’t think the ladies can help, if you understand? But of course, you can count on Nick and I.’

Channing took a sip of the brandy—he did understand. ‘It’s not about the agency,’ Channing assured him. ‘I won’t lie to you. It started as agency business. She hired Amery DeHart and he’s been squiring her around town since February. Amery was called out of town so I stepped in for him, not knowing she was his client.’

‘But it’s not that way now?’ Nick asked again. ‘What changed?’

How did he explain it? There were so many pieces to his association with Alina. It suddenly seemed extraordinarily complicated. He wasn’t sure where to start. ‘I don’t know that it’s ever been agency business with her.’

Jocelyn gave him a quizzing look as if he didn’t quite believe it. ‘I seem to recall she was
your
client at the Christmas party a while ago.’

‘She was, but I didn’t see her again until this business with Amery came up.’

Jocelyn turned his glass by the stem in thoughtful contemplation. ‘It seemed to me that she was rather angry over what transpired at the party for someone who had merely a working agreement with you to relaunch her back into society.’ Jocelyn looked up at the last. ‘Would you care to explain that? I have my guesses, but at this juncture, I don’t think guesses are enough.’

Channing gave a dry chuckle. ‘And all this time, I thought you only wrote bad poetry.’ Nick laughed with him.

Jocelyn smiled. ‘I do a lot more than that. When she showed up that Christmas I began to remember other things: how several years ago you went to Paris for your father and extended your stay; how you went back later that summer. When you came home you founded the agency. Something had changed in you.’ Jocelyn shrugged. ‘But there was nothing else for six long years. Then at last Alina Marliss arrived at the house party and I began to understand how all the little pieces fit.’

‘You don’t need me to tell you anything. You’ve got it all worked out.’ Perhaps he could avoid telling Nick and Jocelyn anything deeper, anything more complicated.

‘I disagree, there’s plenty more to tell.’ Nick urged quietly. ‘She’s beautiful, she’s sensual, she’s the kind of woman every man in a room dreams about, but that won’t sustain a man like you for seven years, most of those years
in absentia
.’

‘Wait—a man like me? What is that precisely?’ Channing felt his hackles rise.

Nick leaned forward. ‘You are surrounded by beautiful women all the time. You don’t need to go to Paris if that’s all it was.’

Channing studied his drink. Friends were damnable creatures. Sometimes they understood you better than you understood yourself. ‘If you know it, what do you want me to say?’

‘She’s the one, isn’t she? If we are to back you, and by extension her, with our reputations, I need you to say it. A woman accused unofficially of murder is no small thing to tackle.’ Jocelyn’s words came fast and urgent. Channing sensed a mounting frustration in Jocelyn’s tone. His friend was tired of him dancing around the issue. Well, he was tired of it, too. But to stop dancing would require certain painful admissions he didn’t want to make. Channing’s answer came out sharper than intended.

‘It hardly matters if she is, she won’t have me if that’s what you’re asking. I asked her yesterday over breakfast.’ His anger, perhaps years of it, was breaking loose. ‘I can save her from this latest scandal, I can help her expose Seymour, but in the end she won’t have me. If you’re asking if I plan to marry her, the answer is no, she won’t allow it.’

Channing pushed both hands through his hair, his head resting in his hands. He’d never spoken those thoughts out loud to anyone. The future seemed that much more bleak with the words uttered, the futile reality that much more tangible now that he named it. The man who could have anyone couldn’t have
her
and there was nothing he could do, there’d never been anything he could do when it came to her.

He looked at Jocelyn and Nick, helplessness threatening to swamp him, and the years fell away. They were not grown men, two of them with wives, the other with a successful business and a notorious reputation in the bedroom. They were just close friends, simple boys again. Channing would have given anything in that moment to be a young buck again and drinking in London with Jocelyn and later Nick beside him. His throat was tight and it was hard to get words out. ‘Have you ever felt like no matter what you did, you were going to lose something and you couldn’t do a thing about it?’

There was silence before Nick spoke. ‘Yes,’ Nick said quietly. ‘I thought I was going to lose Annorah. After all, why would she want me? I had nothing to offer that a decent man should have, no money, no estate.’ Nick paused. ‘I thought nothing would matter again if I lost her.’

Channing reached across the table and gripped his friend’s hand. ‘But you didn’t lose her.’ There was more he’d liked to have said, but emotions were too close to the surface. He’d never guessed. Nick had always seemed in control of everything, able to organise and command any situation, even surrounded by angry husbands.

‘Are you sure there’s no hope?’ Jocelyn asked.

Channing shook his head. ‘There’s never been any hope for us. It’s never been the right time. When I met her, she was married. Now, she’s wedded to her freedom. She’s fought so hard for it she’s reluctant to give it up, reluctant to attach anyone else to her scandals.’

‘Reluctant to attach
you
to her scandals.’ Nick cocked his head. ‘That sounds fairly hopeful to me. Have you thought about why she doesn’t want to risk dragging you down? She cares for you, Channing. You can’t give up yet.’ Nick winked. ‘Not now when our ladies are involved.’

It seemed the fates were determined to make him cry in White’s that day. Emotion swamped Channing a second time. His friends had not deserted him and it was a novel recognition. He had spent so much time looking out for others, it was somewhat odd to have others look out for him. He took a moment to compose himself. ‘What do we plan to do?’

Jocelyn sat back in his chair. ‘For starters, the ladies will make the rounds. They’ll put in a judicious word here and there to quell the rumours.’

‘Good.’ Channing nodded. ‘That will buy us time to co-ordinate with Alina’s solicitors and start the hunt for records of the syndicate’s business dealings or any aliases Seymour used. We should see results within the week.’

Jocelyn gave him a thoughtful look. ‘A word of caution though, I can’t guarantee we’ll find what we’re looking for. If not, things may get rough. If I were you, I’d think hard about what my next steps need to be.’ As heir to an earldom, Jocelyn was more cognizant of social standing than Nicholas. He was a lord. He had to think before he acted. A title offered social standing, but it also limited freedom in ways others might not comprehend. Channing nodded, appreciative of the perspective. His own family name was old and prestigious. He’d not bring scandal to it. He was also overcome. It was somewhat overwhelming to be on the other end of assistance. ‘Thank you.’ Was all he could manage.

* * *

‘This is
not
what we hoped for.’ Hugo Sefton’s eyes blazed as he spoke to the group assembled about the meeting table. This was going to go badly, if Sefton’s anger was any gauge. Roland Seymour shifted in his seat. Who would have thought so much trouble would have come from the
comtesse?

‘It’s been a week and the rumours have all but died,’ Sefton raged. ‘They were supposed to be fanned to a fevered pitch by now. Since when has the
ton
been uninterested in claims of spousal murder?’

‘Since Deveril’s friends decided to get involved. They are not without influence.’ Eagleton shot a disgruntled glare Seymour’s direction. ‘You neglected to tell us the truth about Deveril’s involvement and now we have a whole handful of peers rallying to the
comtesse
’s side. The rumours were supposed to alienate her from any assistance, but they’ve done just the opposite—’

‘That’s only the beginning,’ Sefton interrupted. ‘I received a letter today from a firm of solicitors, Birnbaum and Banks, requesting a meeting to discuss some of our financial dealings with the
comtesse
. They’re not the
comtesse
’s solicitors. They’re Deveril’s and they’re not going to limit the discussion to her deed.’

‘Which was a false statement of property,’ Seymour put in. ‘Everyone keeps forgetting she’s the one with the lies here.’

Sefton, the group’s accountant, grimaced. ‘Don’t be naïve. They will bring up the Marlisses’ contract, too. The false deed is just the bait to make the meeting seem harmless. They know something. If they’ve established a trail, they could press charges regarding our intent to defraud.’

‘
She
could press charges,’ Eagleton corrected.

Sefton shook his head. ‘I’m in no mood to have you mincing pronouns with me. All right,
she
can press charges. If there’s a trail nothing will stop her.’

Eagleton fixed the room with a cold stare. ‘Nothing but a moving vehicle in the middle of a very busy street.’

‘What are you suggesting?’ Seymour sat forward in his chair, somewhat surprised to find an ally in Eagleton. He’d half expected the syndicate to ‘let’ him take the fall for this disaster. It would be easy enough to distance themselves from him. He’d spent most of the meeting trying to figure out how to blackmail the members into having to support him.

‘I’m suggesting that the best way to deal with Alina Marliss at this point is to silence her,’ Eagleton said plainly. ‘She has not taken our hints. The rumours were merely a warning of what could happen if she continued to pursue this course of action. She’s had a week,’ Eagleton reasoned with the group. ‘Her answer to us has not been to retreat, but to amass an army against us.’

He stopped here and glared at Seymour. ‘I’m not suggesting this for your benefit alone. It’s what we all need if we’re to come through this. Not one of us has any desire for prison or transportation. Are we in agreement?’ He waited for the group to give their consensus. When he had it, he continued. ‘Anderson, do you still have your contacts on the docks? Farley, do you still have your hired men in St Giles? Excellent. Here’s what we are going to do. We must plan carefully, we’ll only get one shot. If we miss, Deveril will be suspicious. Listen carefully, timing will be everything.’

Seymour was glad to listen. Within a few days, his problems were about to be solved. The next time the
comtesse
went shopping would be the last time.