“How did you miss that?” she burst out.
He stepped back, hands raised. “We believed our enemy to be his father, remember? Nonetheless, I did search the son’s residence, and planned to extend the hunt beyond Leisterdale’s confederates to anyone who had ever been acquainted with any of his cronies. Then the Boyton affair went sideways, which took my best scouts. The next day, I had to divert even more resources when the Landrake and Merther cases imploded across town—”
“All right, there was no one to help,” Viv said, her heart beating so fast she was dizzy. “Meanwhile, Uppington has been visiting Miss Yates regularly? It’s the perfect cover. The opposite of suspicious—clandestine visits to a well-paid mistress is what the world expects of a lord. What better place to conceal a hostage? Quentinmustbe inside that house.”
The entire family sprang to their feet at once. “Let’s go and get him.”
31
Viv spun toward the corridor leading to the Wynchesters’ front door. With luck, the carriage was ready and waiting.
“We can’t all show up at once like a big mob,” Philippa warned.
“Why the devil not?” Chloe demanded. “That’s where Uppington is keeping Vivian’s cousin hostage, and likely where he planned to take my son!”
“What pretext should we use?” asked Adrian.
“No pretext.” Elizabeth gripped the handle of her sword stick. “We burn the place to the ground.”
“After we remove Quentin safely,” Jacob said firmly.
“Maybe weshouldgo as a riotous mob,” Stephen said slowly. “The confusion could help. Whoever answers our knock won’t be expecting to find a duke, a duchess, a baby, a Balcovian warrioress, a sword-wielding berserker, a Demeraran playwright, an acrobat, five hundred wild ferrets—”
“We take your point,” said Chloe. “Let’s do it.”
“Riotous mobs are dangerous places to be,” Philippa reminded them all. “After Peterloo, we’ll be lucky if we make it up to the door en masse before authorities descend upon us to cut us down.”
“Authorities!” exclaimed Tommy. “Exactly what we need. I’ll meet you in the carriage!”
She sprinted from the room before anyone could ask questions.
“We’re about to break all the rules we can think of,” Jacob warnedViv in a soft murmur. “And probably several laws. Are you all right with this?”
Her hands shook, but her voice was steady. “To get my cousin back safely, I’ll break anything I have to.”
Within minutes, they were piling into a trio of carriages. Chloe would stay inside the third one with her baby while the others undertook the rescue mission.
“How did your stable hands ready the coaches so quickly?” Viv asked Jacob in surprise.
“I’ve had them stay ready since the kidnapping attempt on Dorian,” he explained. “I wanted to ensure we would be prepared for anything at a moment’s notice.”
“I’m coming,” called Tommy. “Wait for me!”
She raced across the lawn toward the carriages dressed in a natty uniform of blue trousers, blue tailcoat with brass buttons, black hat, brown side whiskers, white cravat and gloves, and the signature ruby waistcoat of the Bow Street Horse Patrol.
“Isn’t the Horse Patrol meant to prevent highway robbery?” asked Elizabeth.
“This knave stole Vivian’s cousin,” Tommy replied as she launched herself into the coach. “We intend to put a stop to it.”
When the trio of carriages pulled up on South Street where Miss Yates lived, the horses barely had time to slow before the Wynchester family began spilling out of their coaches like dice from a cup.
They indeed looked like a colorful mob straight out of the pages of one of Viv’s plays. Instead of painting them as the villains, however, this time Viv couldn’t be more pleased to have them on her side. She was proud to be amongst them.
From the first moment, they’d welcomed her with open arms and without hesitation. Perhaps that itself had contributed to her unease. Viv was so accustomed to being ignored or ridiculed or punishedthat she perceived kindness as a sly trick meant to lower her habitual defenses so that the inevitable blow could strike harder.
She admired the Wynchesters’ big hearts and indefatigable teamwork in the pursuit of justice. They knew the world was unfairly tilted in their favor, so they used their wealth and privilege to lift up others however they could. No matter what it cost them.
Her feet bolted across the pavement, along with ten other pairs of boots and the paws of a gigantic mastiff, who had been given some of Quentin’s old clothes to sniff. Overhead flapped the three-foot wingspans of a dozen screeching hawks, each diving intermittently as though ready to carry Uppington away and drop him into the sea.
