To Desire a Wicked Duke (26 page)

Tess felt a sob well in her throat. It enraged her that this poor soul who had given so much in service to his country should be reduced to this quivering mass of fear.

Swallowing hard, she reached out to stroke Ned’s good arm while she met her husband’s eyes with grim determination.

“Ian,” she said calmly, as if her heart wasn’t breaking. “This is Mr. Ned Crutchley. He has a fever from his war wound, and I intend to care for him.”

The fact that their “ghost” had turned out to be a wounded war veteran who suffered a touch of madness caught Ian somewhat by surprise, yet he was not
at all surprised when Tess decided to champion the intruder. For her own safety, he wanted to forbid her, yet he couldn’t help but respect her for her fearless compassion.

Despite his concern, therefore, Ian held his tongue and watched as she tried to soothe the trembling man.

When Ned’s moaning eventually ceased so that he merely lay curled there on the floor, mute and shivering, Tess stood and fetched a quilt from her bed and covered his emaciated body.

By that time a small crowd had gathered out in the corridor. Catching sight of Mrs. Hiddleston, Tess quietly summoned the housekeeper into the room.

“Do you know this man, Mrs. Hiddleston?” she murmured.

“Yes, indeed, your grace. Crutchley came back from the wars a bit daft.”

“Does he live near here?”

“In truth, I do not know where now. He once shared a cottage with his daughter in Fowey, but she died while he was away.”

Fowey was the nearby fishing village, but it was still some distance from here. Tess’s mouth tightened. “Then he will sleep here at Falwell tonight. Will you prepare a bedchamber for him, please?”

The housekeeper looked slightly aghast. “Your grace, are you certain?”

“Quite certain. He is ill and starving, and he needs warmth and sustenance and medical care.”

Mrs. Hiddleston frowned, but pursed her lips in thought. “There is a small room off the kitchens that
is always warm from the hearth fires. I could make up a bed for him there.”

“That should do for now.”

Still the woman hesitated, shooting a critical glance down at Crutchley before raising another objection. “No doubt he is crawling with vermin.”

“We can burn bed linens later. When you have arranged a bed for him, I wish you to bring me some broth and a bit of bread and cheese to start with. And some cool water and cloths so I can try to bring down his fever.”

Ian stepped in to give his own orders. “And have Hiddleston summon the nearest doctor at once.”

Tess cast him a grateful look before returning to Crutchley and kneeling beside him once more. “Ned? Will you come with me, please?”

His bleary eyes opened. “Where?”

“To bed. You need to eat and rest.”

He searched her face for a long moment. Then evidently trusting her, he nodded wordlessly.

When she made to help him rise, another footman, Fletcher, stepped forward to assist her. Wrapping the quilt around Ned’s bony shoulders, Tess urged him toward the door, meeting Ian’s gaze as she passed. She was clearly upset, yet there was no sign of distress or anger in her voice—indeed, nothing but gentle comfort—when she explained to Crutchley where they were taking him.

They led him downstairs to the kitchens where the Hiddlestons awaited. Directed to a small room nearby where a cot stood piled high with blankets, Tess had her patient tucked into bed in short order.

After dismissing the servants for privacy, she
perched on a stool beside Ned and applied a cool damp cloth to his fevered brow. Ian let her have her way, but ordered Fletcher to remain close by in the corridor. Ian himself stayed in the room to watch and guard her in the event the former soldier turned violent.

Ned’s tremors eventually ceased, though, and Tess began asking easy questions as she spoon-fed him a bowl of warm chicken broth.

“Can you tell me where you live, Ned?”

“I ’ave no ’ome now.”

Tess paused, obviously struggling to hide her dismay. “Then where do you sleep?”

He frowned as if trying to remember. “Sometimes a cave.”

“The cave below Falwell Castle?”

“Nay … over to Fowey way.”

She carried the spoon to his lips once more. “The village where you lived with your daughter? That is over two miles from here, is it not?”

“Aye, Mum.”

“Then what brought you here to Falwell?”

When he shifted uneasily beneath the blankets, Tess gave him one of her gentlest smiles. “I will not be angry, Ned. I am merely curious to learn how you ended up in the secret passageway behind my bedchamber wall.”

At his shamed silence, Tess prodded. “You entered my bedchamber the other night, did you not? You touched my face while I slept.”

He lowered his gaze. “Aye, ye were so beautiful … I thought … you reminded me of Sal … me daughter. Sal is with the angels now.” His expression turned
contrite as he glanced up again. “I ’umbly beg yer pardon, Mum.”

Her voice softened even further. “I forgive you, Ned. Indeed, I am flattered.” Her questions ceased for a few minutes while she fed him. “There now, you have finished all the broth. Do you think you could eat a bit of bread and cheese?”

When his pained eyes sparked with eagerness, Tess set aside the empty bowl and broke up the food into small pieces on the plate. While Ned ate her offerings, she gradually coaxed him into explaining why he had pretended to be the castle ghost. Her patient warmth not only soothed him, he seemed to recognize her desire to help. Ian quelled his own impatience since her methods seemed to be bearing fruit.

“Were you the one to rattle the chains all those times, Ned?” Tess asked casually.

“Aye, I was … but I dint cause the voices.”

“What voices?”

“The ones I ’eard. There are
real
ghosts in those towers, make no mistake.”

Tess took her time replying, evidently not wanting to disillusion Ned, even though he’d very likely been hallucinating about corporeal spirits. “How did you manage to rattle the chains? That sounded very ghostly to me.”

“Sometimes I climbed onto the roof and banged the chains ag’in the chimneys. And sometimes I ’id in the secret passages.”

“But why?”

“To scare you away. Jolly dint want you snooping around. If you thought there was a ghost, you might leave.”

“Who is Jolly?”

“Jolly Banks. ’E paid me a shilling to ’aunt the castle.” Suddenly Ned clamped his lips shut, as if realizing he had betrayed a confidence. When Tess asked why Jolly would have wanted her to leave, Ned’s grimy features turned shuttered. “I canna say more.”

Ian spoke up then. “How did you gain entrance to the castle? By way of our cave and tunnel?”

Ned started, as if having forgotten there was anyone but Tess with him in the room. Surveying Ian warily, he nodded. “Aye. The tunnel leads to the tower, and from there ye can reach the roof.”

Tess resumed leading the conversation in her gentle tone. “Who else knows about the cave entrance, Ned?”

“I dunno, Mum. Only Jolly’s crew, I guess. His great-grandda’ was head groundskeeper for the castle at one time.”

“It worries me that any stranger could just break into our home, intent on doing us harm.”

Ned’s expression grew dismayed. “I would ne’er ’ave ’armed you, Mum, I swear.…”

Tess smiled. “I believe you, Ned. Truly. But that doesn’t mean that Jolly feels the same way toward us. After all, he asked you to drive us away.”

At her observation, Ned looked intensely remorseful and eventually allowed Tess to cajole more of the story from him—specifically that at the beginning of the summer, Jolly Banks had paid him to “haunt” the castle to scare the servants enough that they would keep away from the cave below the bluff, and then to double his efforts once the new duke and duchess arrived.

When Ian interrupted once more to ask if the three chests in the cave belonged to Banks, Ned’s brow furrowed as he tried to recall. “Aye, Jolly told me to guard those chests well.”

From Ned’s wandering tale, they concluded that a ring of thieves led by Banks had used the old smugglers’ hideout to store their stolen goods. Ned as much as confessed that he was connected to the thefts, although the exact role he had played was less clear.

He had finished the last crumbs of bread and cheese when he sank back wearily against the pillows. “I canna tell ye more, Mum, or Jolly will kill me.”

Tess cast a worried glance at Ian but promptly ended the discussion. “Forgive me, Ned. I should not have pressed when you need to rest. You look exhausted.”

“Thankee, Mum, for the food,” Ned offered.

“You are quite welcome. Do you want more?”

“Could I p’raps ’ave some ale? I’m that parched, I am.”

“Certainly you may have some ale. I should have thought of it.”

Taking up the empty plate and bowl, she rose just as a tap sounded on the door.

An elderly man carrying a medical bag was admitted and bowed first to Ian, then to Tess. “Your graces, I came as soon as I could. How may I be of assistance?”

After assuring Ned that the doctor was only there to help, Tess followed Ian from the room so her patient could be examined. In the corridor, she handed
over the empty dishes to Fletcher and asked that he fetch a pint of ale for Ned.

“It is beyond appalling,” she muttered to Ian when they were alone, “that Ned should be homeless and dressed in rags. He was a soldier like Richard. We owe men like him more than we can ever repay. And to think those thieves may have drawn him into their crimes.… Do
you
believe Ned is a criminal?” she asked Ian worriedly.

“We don’t have enough details yet,” he replied. “We will have to question him further in the morning to find out more about Banks and his gang of thieves.”

Tess nodded with reluctance. “I suppose so, but please remember, kindness will go much farther than threats.”

His mouth curved wryly. “I wouldn’t dare threaten him, love. Not with you standing guard over him like a mother tigress.”

She gave him a faint smile, but then paced the corridor for some twenty minutes until the doctor emerged from the room to give his report.

“The stump of his arm is raw and inflamed, but not completely putrid. I washed and bandaged the wound and administered a sleeping draught. He should be out until morning at the very least.”

It was only the doctor’s assurance that convinced Tess to leave Ned to sleep. Ian swore the doctor to secrecy and made certain the door was locked with a footman standing guard outside.

Before escorting Tess to his study then, he asked both Hiddlestons to join them along with Basil Eddowes and Fanny Irwin.

They discussed the new revelations with the steward and housekeeper for a time. Hiddleston was familiar with Jolly Banks and identified him as a local smuggler from the nearby seaside village of Polperro. The steward was also unsurprised to learn that Banks might be the ringleader, since he had a vicious streak.

“Banks will not have much support in his new trade, however,” Hiddleston ventured. “Not if he and his cohorts are hurting the common folk, stealing and wounding indiscriminately.”

Ian eventually thanked both servants and dismissed them.

When they were gone, Tess broke the resulting silence first. “So how do we proceed? Banks is clearly dangerous. Someone needs to put an end to his thievery.”

“I intend to,” Ian replied.

“How? We haven’t enough of our own footmen to go up against a large gang, do we?”

“We won’t need to act alone. Hiddleston is likely right and we can trust that the servants here won’t be in league with thieves. It’s time to involve the local authorities, perhaps even the county militia. I’ll send for Vicar Potts in the morning. I want his opinion on how best to proceed. But basically we need to catch Banks and his minions with their loot … or failing that, catch them in the commission of another theft.”

“You mean, lure them out somehow?”

“Yes.”

“What of Crutchley?” Eddowes asked. “If he participated in the thefts, then he is a common criminal and should be in prison.”

At his logical question, Tess stiffened and turned an imploring gaze on Ian. “You have seen Ned. His mental facilities are clearly impaired. Even if he aided Banks, he should not be treated in the same manner as a vicious lawbreaker.”

Watching Tess, Ian felt an odd twist of his heart. It was hard to remain cynical in the face of her genuine caring, which was why he’d decided to help her champion her wounded veteran.

“No, he should not,” he agreed.

“And even if he is not innocent, we cannot just turn Ned out of the castle. You heard him—he said Banks might kill him for what he revealed to us.”

“He can remain here at Falwell for a few more days while we work out a plan.”

“Thank you,” she said fervently.

His promise seemed to reassure Tess enough that she could eat dinner awhile later, although she mostly toyed with her food. During the remainder of the evening, Tess insisted on checking on Ned twice. Only when she found him slumbering peacefully the second time would she accompany Ian to his bedchamber.

Her thoughts were still with the veteran, however, as she readied for bed. “What will happen to Ned if he is guilty of those thefts?”

“He will be arrested and brought before the local justice of the peace. If arraigned, then he’ll be bound over to the assize court for trial.”

“There must be
something
we can do. Waiting for the assizes could take weeks, if not months, and he will be locked up for all that time. He is
ill
, Ian, and he needs proper medical care. I will not let him suffer
that way—and I am
not
letting him go to prison where he could very well die.”

There was a stubborn set to her mouth that Ian recognized. “You cannot save every poor soul who crosses your path, you realize.”

“Perhaps not, but I can try. As can you.”

She gazed up at him with a considering look. “I know you will do the just thing and help Ned. You are certainly clever enough to determine a way to save him.”

Ian shook his head in unwilling amusement, realizing that Tess was once again using her persuasive arts on him. But he had no intention of arguing with her. “Why don’t we learn the extent of his involvement before fretting overmuch about how to save him?”