The Fortune Hunter (23 page)

Hamilton let him prattle on as he glowered into his ale. Damn! He had thought his suspicions about Oakley might prove valuable. They had been nothing but another false lead. He must start over again.

“I want answers!” he said, cutting Mallory off in mid-word. “And I want that thief taken. I have waited long enough for you to do what you vowed you would do before a week passed. It's been more than twice that, and my patience is depleted.”

Mallory cringed away from his honed words. The shorter man had recovered from the beating by the unseen assailants, but his face became ruddy with his own outrage. “I've done what I can! Ye've got to give me another chance, milord.”

“You have done nothing.”

“I tell ye, the man ye want me to take 'as vanished!”

“No man can vanish.” Hamilton took a deep drink of his ale and watched Mallory squirm like a lad called before the headmaster. “Even if he has left Bath, which is altogether possible after this delay, there must be some clue or someone who can give us the answer we need. I suggest that, if your past methods have failed to get the answers I need, you try other methods.”

Mallory swallowed a mouthful of gin, then scratched his unshaven chin. “There be someone who might be knowin' somethin', but—”

“Do what you must.”

“The lass may be quality.”

Hamilton hesitated. Inflicting Mallory's brutality on a woman, whether she was gentry or not, was unthinkable. He had seen what the stocky man's bare fists could do when he had walked into this house of waste tonight to discover Mallory with a man at his feet, groaning from a broken jaw. Although Hamilton had no idea what had precipitated the milling—and he had no wish to know—he could not order Mallory to turn those bunches of fives on a woman.

“Talk to her,” he said quietly. “Get some answers.”

“And if she don't want to be talkin'?”

He took another drink of the bitter ale, then set his tankard on the table. “If she will not cooperate, Mallory, bring her to me, and I will be sure she tells me everything she knows.”

“Aye, milord.” He snickered. “And then the lass'll rue the day she first saw ye.”

“That she will, for I shall have that man caught.”

Not bothering to finish the ale in the filthy glass, Hamilton rose. He dropped a few coins on the table. As Mallory reached for one that was rolling toward the edge, he walked out of the dank tavern. He paused by his carriage and looked at Bath, which was set farther long the Avon. The white buildings glistened in the first light of dawn.

If he returned to Queen Square, Elinor would be a bother … even at this hour. He turned to look at the far side of the river where Laura Place was situated. He had no reason to call there. Nerissa had made it clear she wished nothing more to do with him.

His frustration wavered as he remembered the anguish on her face as she slowly closed the door to leave him standing alone on the walkway. He had thought Nerissa understood what even Philip could not. To give up this search now would betray the promise he had made to his father on his deathbed. Vengeance was only secondary to keeping his pledge.

Instead Nerissa had wound herself up as completely as Elinor ever had. Although she had not rung him a regular peal as Elinor delighted in doing, her restrained anger had been even more cutting.

To perdition with both women! Calling up to his coachman, he ordered the man to drive him to one of the gaming-hells in the center of the city. He would put his troubles from his mind with gambling and brandy. That was how he had forgotten Elinor before. That was how he would forget her now. And Nerissa.… He flinched again as her face, tears glistening in her sapphire eyes, burst from his memory.

He swore under his breath, then louder, but nothing eased the realization that putting Nerissa out of his life might not be as simple as that. Although it might not be necessary, for clearly she had put him out of hers.

“… and, without question, we must serve the best champagne we can find. I attended the wedding feast that Lady Gillis sponsored for her niece. The champagne was tasteless. Can you believe that? And she's the wife of an earl!”

Nerissa paid no more attention to Mrs. Ehrlich's words than she had to anything said during the last hour of this interminable call. She stirred her tea, although it had long ago grown cold, and tried not to think of the harsh words she had shared with Hamilton last night. Even now, she could not keep tears from welling into her eyes as she thought of how the pleasant evening had become a disaster.

She had been right to ask Hamilton to stay out of her life, but that thought offered no solace to her grieving heart. During the night, when trying to sleep had been impossible, she had sat by the window and stared out onto the street where she had lost every chance at happiness. She had still been sitting there when dawn was announced by the maids selling milk and eggs in the center of Laura Place.

“Nerissa!”

At Mrs. Ehrlich's impatient tone, which warned Nerissa this was not the first time Annis's mother had tried to get her attention, Nerissa said softly, “Pardon me, Mrs. Ehrlich. I fear my mind is wandering.”

She sniffed derisively. “It is time for you to stop woolgathering, Nerissa. And of what? Lord Windham, no doubt. After all, hasn't that faithless man proven to you that you were a blind buzzard to heed his court promises when he was welcoming his castoff back into his home?”

“Mama!” Annis choked. “That is not the way it is at all. Philip assured me that—”

“Bah!” her mother interrupted. “Of course, Mr. Windham would defend his brother.” Tapping a long nail against her powdered cheek, she mused, “I shall have to rethink my permission for him to call upon you.”

“Mama!”

“Mrs. Ehrlich,” Nerissa said quietly before their quarrel could add to the pain scoring her skull, “Philip Windham should not be punished for his brother's deeds. I believe, as Annis does, that his affection for her is honest and untainted.”

Mrs. Ehrlich poured herself another cup of tea and sniffed again. “Do not misunderstand, Nerissa, when I say I have little faith in your judgment in these matters. You have proven you are easily bamboozled.” Raising her cup to her lips, she sighed. “Only my concern about leaving you alone on Laura Place prevents me from insisting that Annis return home posthaste. Have you heard from your brother, Nerissa? When does he plan to return to Bath?”

“I received a short message from him only this morning.” She did not tell the prying Mrs. Ehrlich that the note had been no longer than two lines to inform Nerissa that Cole had arrived safely in London and expected to be returning before month's end with good news of prospective backers. Whether he had met with them yet he had not bothered to add. “He is doing well. I am sure his project will prove even more successful than any of us imagined.”

“That remains to be seen. He is such an air-dreamer, Nerissa, as you are becoming. I would think that—” At the sound of footfalls, she turned to smile a greeting to Janelle and her
fiancé
. “Oh, my dears, how kind of you to join us! I trust you had a delightful sojourn to the Pump Room.”

Nerissa exchanged a grimace with Annis. She knew Annis shared her opinion of Randall Oakley. He was disagreeably high in the instep, and Nerissa would have been glad to avoid his company. As the bracket-faced man offered Mrs. Ehrlich a filial buss on the cheek, Janelle twittered an annoying laugh.

“I did not know that you had decided to pay us a call, Annis,” Janelle said, envy in every word. Nerissa recalled that Annis's sister had sulked for two days after learning that Annis had been given permission to stay on Laura Place. She suspected Janelle had wanted her younger sister to remain home, so she could parade every moment of the triumph of her betrothal in front of Annis.

Annis answered with quiet dignity, “I enjoy giving Mama a look-in.”

“When you are not busy with Windham, I suppose,” Mr. Oakley interjected. “He shows a fidelity to you that I would not have guessed any Windham could feel.” He chuckled as he sat on a chair beside his future mother-in-law. “But I was silly to think that, wasn't I?” Looking down his long nose at Nerissa, he said, “His brother has shown a great deal of fidelity to a woman who has cuckolded him at every turn.”

Not to be left out, Janelle added, “Nerissa, I am so delighted to see you looking so unscathed by your disturbing evening. What I have heard of it!” She pressed her hand to her chest. “You must have a stronger heart than mine to endure such a public humiliation.”

Annis instantly set herself on her feet. “Do not try to set Nerissa's back up with your poker-talk, Janelle. Nerissa was not humiliated.”

“I would be,” her sister insisted, “if my escort's high flyer made such a scene.”

“There was no scene,” Nerissa said quietly. Setting her cup on the tray, she said, “Thank you for the tea, Mrs. Ehrlich. I hope you will allow us to host you soon on Laura Place.”

Janelle refused to be silenced. “Mayhap there was no scene while you were there, Nerissa, but I understand it was quite a piece of work that the guests enjoyed when Lord Windham returned to collect Mrs. Howe.”

“He went back to …?” Nerissa halted herself as she saw the gleam in Janelle's eyes. Annis's sister wanted her to react with shock and anger, then she could gloat about having a faithful suitor. Not that she considered Randall Oakley a prize admirer, for he was worth less than a half-farthing.

Mr. Oakley smiled coldly. “It is
on dits
throughout Bath that Lord Windham is enamored with Elinor Howe again. What a gaby he is! Do you think she will play him for the jack as she did before? No doubt, she thinks she can lighten his pockets of some gilt before she goes on to her next paramour.”

“Don't say things like that!” cried Annis. “You will hurt Nerissa with your hummers! Hamilton doesn't care a rush for Mrs. Howe, and he has demonstrated that he cares deeply about Nerissa.”

“Do not let their insults disturb you, Annis,” Nerissa said, rising to her feet. “I thank you for coming to my rescue, but it is not necessary. I judge the source of these statements for what they are. Mr. Oakley and your sister have come in with five eggs, and four of them are rotten with demure hits.” Picking up her bonnet, she said, “Again thank you, Mrs. Ehrlich.”

With a sob, Annis ran after Nerissa as she went out into the foyer. Nerissa put her arm around her friend and soothed her with trite phrases. Although she longed to be a wet-goose, too, it would gain her nothing but pleasure for those who wished to see her daunted by Elinor Howe's return to Bath.

“Janelle and Mr. Oakley are despicable,” Annis choked through her tears. “Why do they want to hurt you?”

“Don't heed them. I shan't.” She tied her bonnet under her chin, her fingers freezing on the pretty ribbons as she realized it was the hat Hamilton had given her. Why had she chosen to wear this today? It
did
match the blue sprig linen of her gown and the lace along the ruffles on the sleeve, but she wished to give nobody the idea that she was repining for Hamilton … even if it was true.

“Oh, no!” cried Annis.

“What is it?”

She reached up and touched the right side of Nerissa's bonnet. “There is a bare spot right here. You must have lost one of the feathers.”

“It doesn't matter.” The idea that a missing feather was of importance, when her whole life seemed to be aground, was absurd, but then everything was absurd today. She had given Hamilton his
congé
, while she could think of nothing but seeing him again.

“But it does.” Annis motioned to the short butler, who had come forward with their shawls. “Cunliffe, have my green bonnet brought. Miss Dufresne shall wear it while we go to the milliner's shop.”

“That is not necessary,” Nerissa said while the butler hurried to obey.

“You cannot be seen on the street with a bonnet that looks like that. What would be thought of you?”

Nerissa knew better than to argue with her bosom bow when Annis took on such repressive accents. Untying her bonnet, she accepted the one that Cunliffe handed to her. She smiled when she saw the amusement in the short man's eyes. She settled the chip hat on the back of her head and tried to make it comfortable. It was slightly too large, but it would do until she could presuade Annis that having a hat that was minus a single feather was no crime.

Annis refused to be persuaded on the matter. She insisted that the carriage take them to
Madame
de Ramel's shop, so that the milliner could repair it posthaste. “After all,” she said as they sat in the carriage that bounced along the rough stones of the street, “she may still have more of those wonderful feathers. A few quick stitches, and no one will ever guess that it was damaged.”

“There is no hurry.”

“But there is. Philip is coming to take me to the theatre tonight.” Happiness brightened her face. “We can get your hat fixed, then return home to decide what we will wear.”

“I had not planned to go to the theatre this evening.”

“Do you and Hamilton have other plans?”

Nerissa could not help but stare at her friend. Her voice had not been quiet when she spoke so sharply to Hamilton last night. With a sigh, she realized that Annis and Philip had been so enraptured with each other that they had noticed nothing else.

“Oh, do come with us,” Annis urged.

“I don't think that is possible.”

Annis's smile disappeared. “My eyes, Nerissa! Are you going to give up so quickly?”

“Give up?”

She shook her head in bewilderment. “I had thought you possessed a true
tendre
for Hamilton. He seemed to be as taken with you. Then this woman …” Her sneer on the word made it sound like an epithet. “… comes back into his life, and you are ready to cede him to her without a single question.”