Reese's Bride (20 page)

Her heart squeezed. She had seen it coming. She had done her best to guard her heart, but since the night he had allowed her and Jared into his home, since the moment he had set aside his ill will and lent them his protection, she had been falling more and more under his spell.

She was in love with him. Hopelessly and eternally. In love with him far more deeply than she had been as a
girl. In love not with the boy he once was, but the man he had become.

And when she told him the truth about Jared, when he looked at her with disgust and loathing, it was going to break her heart.

Elizabeth took a steadying breath, fighting the tears that threatened. There was no use crying. She had known from the start she would have to tell him and that once she did, her hopes and dreams would all turn to dust.

Until that day, she meant to enjoy every moment she had with him.

The butler was waiting when she walked back into the house. Elizabeth looked into his somber face. “What is it, Longacre?”

“A letter, my lady. It arrived just a moment ago from London. One of the security people intercepted the messenger at the gate and brought it to the house himself.”

“They seem to be very efficient.”

“Indeed, my lady. The messenger awaits your reply.”

She broke the seal on the letter which was addressed to both her and Reese. It was from Mr. Pinkard, Reese’s solicitor. The adoption hearing was set for two weeks hence. They would both need to be there, but Mr. Pinkard was certain the adoption would be approved. It was only a matter of formality.

She hurriedly penned a note, assuring the solicitor they would be there and handed the note to the butler. “Will you see this delivered to the messenger?”

“Of course, my lady.”

“Thank you.”

The butler made a faint nod of his head and took the note to the guard, who stood waiting on the front porch
steps. The man disappeared and Elizabeth made a mental note to tell Reese the date for the hearing had been set.

Soon Jared would legally become his son. Elizabeth felt sick to her stomach. It was past time she told Reese the truth.

P
acing back and forth in the cluttered drawing room of his town house, ignoring the faint smell of old perfume that reminded him of his mother, Travis turned at the sound of a firm rap on his door. He strode to the window, peered outside, and spotted Reese on the porch.

His butler had not yet returned—thank God. Travis wasn’t used to being inside for days on end. He needed some space to move about. With a houseful of servants, it wasn’t that easy to find.

He strode to the door and pulled it open, relieved his friend had finally come. “I’ve been eager to see you.” He motioned his friend into the house, then led him down the hall to the drawing room. Once they were inside, he slid closed the doors, making them private. “I hope you’re bringing good news.”

“I suppose that’s all in how you look at it. And how did you know I was coming?”

“Annabelle stopped by. She said you and Nightingale were going to talk to Colonel Thomas. She said some
thing about trying to get me released so that I could help find the real spy.”

Reese frowned. “Lady Annabelle Townsend? She came by to see you?”

Travis felt a wave of guilt. She was an unattached female and he didn’t want her becoming the subject of gossip. “We’ve known each other for a number of years. She and my sister, Beatrice, were best chums.”

“Her brother mentioned that.”

“She stopped by to see how I fared.”

Reese nodded. “Annabelle believes strongly in your innocence. She is determined to help you in any way she can.”

Travis looked away. She wanted to help him, all right. She hadn’t come right out and said it, but it strongly appeared she wanted him to make love to her.

Travis sank down in an overstuffed ruby chair, a memory arising of her mouth under his, her full lips softening, trembling slightly as he took control and deepened the kiss.

His groin tightened. She had only been eighteen when he had joined the army, but she had been a beautiful girl even then and he had imagined kissing her at least a dozen times. None of his musings had compared with the real thing, and thinking of it now, he shifted to relieve the pressure of his hardening shaft.

Travis silently cursed.

“You’re sweating,” Reese said. “You aren’t sick, are you?”

A little lovesick, maybe—God forbid.

Travis sighed. “I’ve got a problem.”

Reese grunted. “You’re jesting, right?”

“I mean a different sort of problem.” He straightened in the chair, pushing thoughts of Annabelle away. “Tell me what Colonel Thomas said.”

“Apparently, Nightingale’s information was correct. He discovered the Foreign Office was already looking for a spy when Sandhurst came to Colonel Thomas pointing the finger at you.”

“Since I am not a spy, the traitor must still be out there.”

“Exactly so. Which is the reason Thomas agreed to release you into our custody. We pointed out to him that if he is wrong about you—which both of us and a number of others are convinced—he is allowing the real spy to continue to betray our country. We convinced him that you were the best man to discover the identity of the traitor, and suggested that since you are Russian, you could easily move about in the Russian community. If anyone can find the traitor, you can. Of course, you will also have to find sufficient proof.”

Travis shoved to his feet. “You’re telling me I can finally leave this damnable house?”

“I am. As long as what you do when you leave helps us find the man who has betrayed his country.”

Travis paced over to the hearth, where a low fire burning against the grate warmed the room. His body thrummed with nervous energy—to say nothing of unsatisfied lust. He had been too long without a woman, he told himself. It wasn’t that he desperately wanted this particular female.

“So how do I begin?” he asked.

“Word has been purposely leaked that the authorities believe you may be selling secrets to the Russians. The plan is for you to begin frequenting places and people in
the Russian community. Let it be known you are selling information. If we get lucky, someone will be interested in buying it.”

Travis nodded. “And once I have a name, we may be able to strong-arm the fellow into telling us who else might be involved.”

“Exactly. It’s dangerous, so you’ll have to be careful.”

“I’ll be careful. I spent a little time in the neighborhood when my mother was still alive. I met a few people. It shouldn’t be hard to renew old acquaintances, make a few new ones.”

“That’s what I hoped you would say.”

Travis paced over to the sideboard. “You ready for a drink?”

“More than ready.”

“Brandy all right?”

“Perfect.”

Travis unstoppered a crystal snifter and poured them each a drink. He handed a cut-crystal glass to Reese.

“So what’s this other problem?” Reese asked, inhaling the aroma, then taking a sip.

“Woman trouble.”

“Ahh…”

If there was one man in the world he could trust, it was Reese. “I mentioned Lady Annabelle?”

“Yes, I believe you did.”

“Well, it seems we share a mutual…attraction.”

“Is that so?”

“I didn’t realize…I mean, until she came here that day…it never actually occurred to me to…The thing of it is, she pointed out that she is a widow. She says everyone knows that widows have special needs.”

Reese’s eyes widened. “Annabelle said that?”

Travis nodded. “As I said, we’ve known each other for quite some time.”

Reese shrugged his shoulders. “Annabelle’s a grown woman. I suppose if the two of you are mutually agreed, an affair wouldn’t be—”

Travis was appalled. “I can’t do that! Anna was my sister’s best friend!”

“And you don’t think your sister would approve?”

“It isn’t really that. I mean the thing is, Annabelle isn’t the sort to have an affair.”

“I never thought so until now.”

“She’s the kind of woman you marry.”

“Ahhh. I am beginning to see the problem. On the other hand, now that you mention it, you could certainly do worse.”

Travis shook his head. “Not a chance. I’m a dedicated bachelor. I could never settle down.”

Reese just smiled. “That’s what I used to say. Now that I’m married, it doesn’t seem half bad. In fact, I discover there are a number of advantages.”

“Name one.”

Reese’s smile broadened into a grin. “I don’t go around breaking out in a sweat.”

Travis laughed for the first time in days. “Yes, I guess there is that.”

“Whatever you do, I know you’ll make the right decision. In the meantime, keep me posted. And don’t go anywhere aside from your house and the Russian district. You do, Thomas is likely to set his bloodhounds on you.”

Travis just nodded. He wouldn’t do anything to provoke the colonel.

Instead he intended to focus his full attention on finding a spy.

Jared fell ill sometime before midnight. He tossed and turned and began to run a slight fever. Worried the illness might be serious, Mrs. Garvey awakened Elizabeth, which awakened Reese, who was sleeping in her bed.

Elizabeth followed the broad-hipped nanny down the hall, Reese moving purposely along beside her.

“Do you have any idea what could be wrong?” Elizabeth worriedly asked Mrs. Garvey at Jared’s bedside.

“I don’t know, my lady. You dropped in to see him before he went to sleep. Did you notice anything at the time?”

“Only that he seemed a little tired. I thought he had simply been playing too hard with his friend, Mrs. Brody’s son.” The first real friend Jared had ever had.

“It’s probably nothing to worry about. Likely he’ll be fine by morning.”

Elizabeth stared down at him, hoping it was true. But by morning, Jared’s temperature had risen alarmingly and Reese summoned a physician. Then Jared’s stomach began to rebel and he lost the contents several times.

Frantic with worry, Elizabeth sat next to her little boy’s bedside, watching the doctor examine him. Reese paced up and down the hall outside the room, both of them anxiously awaiting the physician’s prognosis.

Finally, Elizabeth could stand the waiting no longer. She stood up from her chair. “What is it, Dr. Petersen?
He’s burning up with fever and he can’t keep anything on his stomach. What do you think is wrong?”

“I’m not certain yet. A boy his age…it could be any number of things. We’ll keep an eye out for any sign of German measles or chicken pox. Or it could be a case of the mumps.”

“But he doesn’t show signs of any of those things. No rashes. No sore throat.”

The doctor leaned over the boy, who had finally sunk into a restless sleep. The man was older than she would have liked, with thinning white hair and a short, straggly beard. She had never met him before but he was the closest physician in the area and he had come to help straightaway.

The white-haired doctor looked up at her. “Is there a chance the boy might have ingested something that didn’t agree with him? Something that is causing his upset stomach?”

“Not that I know of. I’ll ask Cook if he might have eaten something we don’t know about.” Her chest constricted. For the first time, it occurred to her that someone in the household might be responsible for Jared’s illness. That someone might have given him something that resulted in his illness.

She looked over at Reese, who stood a few feet away. His jaw looked hard as granite. Clearly, he had come to that same conclusion.

Her heart began to clamor. She needed to speak to Cook straightaway.

Then Reese said the words she hadn’t had the courage to utter. “Is there any chance, Doctor, that the boy could have been poisoned? Are his symptoms anywhere near the same?”

The older man’s gaze flew to Reese’s. “You believe there is a possibility that might have happened?”

“There’s a chance. I can’t tell you how it might have been done, or if anything was given to the boy at all. But yes, there is a chance.”

The doctor’s thin shoulders straightened. “We should take measures just in case. Since he has already emptied his stomach a number of times, we needn’t worry about that.” Dr. Petersen reexamined Jared’s throat for any sign of blistering or any other indications that some sort of poisoning had occurred.

All the while, Elizabeth stood there with her heart in her throat, barely able to breathe and aching for her son. Had Mason managed to penetrate their defenses? Had he hired someone to harm Jared as she was certain he wished to do? Was there a conspirator in their midst?

“We’ll keep a close watch on the boy for the next few hours,” the doctor said. “Perhaps some symptom will occur that will give us the answers we need.”

Throat aching, Elizabeth gave him a nearly imperceptible nod. This was her fault entirely. She had married a viper and now her son was paying for her mistake. Her legs felt weak. She sank back down in the chair beside the bed.

“I’m going down to the kitchen,” Reese said. “I’ll speak to Cook and her helpers, see if they noticed anyone prowling about the kitchen who shouldn’t have been there.”

Elizabeth just nodded.

She felt Reese’s hand settle gently on her shoulder. “You mustn’t think the worst—not yet. It is not uncommon for boys Jared’s age to fall ill with one thing or another. My brothers and I…there was rarely a time when
one of us wasn’t sick with something. We all managed to survive.”

She looked up at him. “What if…what if it’s Mason?”

Reese’s jaw turned to stone. “Then he is a dead man.” Turning away from her, he left the bedroom and headed downstairs. Elizabeth knew he was as worried as she, and emotion filled her chest. She had a caring husband and a wonderful son. The sort of life she had always imagined.

Dear God, she treasured each day with them.

For the next three hours, Jared slept. Since there was no change in his condition, Dr. Petersen left to visit another patient living nearby with the promise he would return.

During the late afternoon, Jared suffered several more rounds of vomiting and afterward, each time fell into an alarmingly deep slumber. Reese’s unlikely valet, Timothy Daniels, stopped by several times during the day to check on the boy and Elizabeth appreciated his concern.

“He’s going to be all right, isn’t he?” the young corporal asked.

“I’m sure he is,” Elizabeth replied, though just saying the words made her throat ache, since she wasn’t certain at all. “He’ll be fine in a couple of days.”

“When he wakes up, tell him I came by to see him, will you?”

She managed a smile. “Of course. Thank you, Timothy.”

By the time the doctor returned that evening, Elizabeth was exhausted. Reese tried not to show his worry, but she knew he remained as frightened as she.

The doctor examined Jared as he slept. “His fever hasn’t worsened. Is he still vomiting?”

“Not for at least several hours.”

Dr. Petersen nodded. “That’s good. But be sure to have someone in the room at all times.”

“We won’t leave him alone.” The request was unnecessary. She had no intention of leaving her son’s bedside.

“I’ll be back first thing in the morning.”

“Thank you, Doctor.” Elizabeth watched him leave, praying Jared would be better by the time the doctor returned. Several times during the night, Reese insisted on trading her places and she didn’t have the heart to refuse him. Jared was his son—even if he didn’t know it.

Still, she couldn’t sleep. By the time the sun came up, she was tired clear to the bone. Though Mrs. Garvey had brought up a tray, she couldn’t swallow a bite to eat. Her legs felt shaky and her hands trembled.

“His color looks better,” Reese said, standing over the child’s bedside. “And he hasn’t vomited since midnight.” Reese hadn’t slept either. It was obvious how attached he had become to their son. He rested a hand on Jared’s forehead, tenderly smoothed back his perspiration-drenched hair. “His fever is gone this morning. He seems to be sleeping much more peacefully.”

Elizabeth leaned over the bed and adjusted the covers over Jared’s narrow chest. His forehead did indeed feel cooler to the touch.

“It’s too soon to know for sure,” Reese said, “but I think he’s going to be all right.”

“He is definitely improved.”