Knowing when he was beaten—at least for the moment—Jasper accepted his gloves and hat from his butler and strode through the door. And into Maria.
Jasper’s pulse jumped, and he scowled.
“Maria!” Juliana swept forward to embrace her friend.
“Miss Roberts,” he said, doffing his hat.
“Duke,” she replied with a sardonic smirk that tightened his stomach.
“Oh dear,” Juliana fussed, glancing past her friend. “Is it raining?”
Indeed, the dark sky was heavy with clouds, and rain had begun to fall. Wisps of Maria’s dark hair were damp around her ears and at the base of her neck. Jasper itched to peel them from her skin and feel their silkiness. Then he would press his lips to the soft skin of her neck and kiss it until her chilled skin had been heated from within. He would?—
Damnation. I must stop thinking this way.
He cleared his throat. “We were just leaving.”
“Do accompany us, Maria. This pertains to you as well.”
With efficient movements, Juliana ushered her friend into Jasper’s awaiting carriage and bid farewell to her husband. She called out the direction to the coachman, and they jolted into motion.
Despite the spaciousness of the equipage, the air felt close and tight as he settled across from the women…fromMaria.
Rain fell in rivulets over the roof of the carriage, the sound a nigh-deafening against the discomfited silence within. The women bumped together as the carriage turned away from Grosvenor Square.
Jasper shifted in his seat across from them, his chest welling with dread.
“Tell her, Jasper,” Juliana prompted.
His eyebrows lifted and his belly dipped. “I beg your pardon?”
Ignoring him, Juliana clasped one of Maria’s hands. “This morning, my brother returned home to find a poisoned note impaled by a dagger in the door of his study.”
“Poisoned?” Maria’s concerned grey gaze fell on Jasper. “How do you?—”
“It smelled of bitter almonds,” Jasper interjected. “It is the same aroma of laurel water. I know not if he intended to actually poison me or if he merely intended to amuse himself with a game of mental torture.”
Juliana nodded. “When our uncle and cousins would visit our estate, Francis would use laurel water as one of his means of killing our pets. Though I daresay it shouldn’t do you harm if you touch it.”
“How horrible,” Maria whispered. “And your staff? What of them?”
Jasper shook his head and braced himself as they turned onto New Bond Street, his lips set in a determined line. “I had my butler make inquiries among the others, but no one seems to have noticed a thing.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “I checked the windows in my study, and all were locked.”
“Mmm,” Maria hummed. “If Francis has access to your home and continues to issue threats, do you imagine we could?—”
“If we wait until he attacks one of us, then it is already too late to act. Is that not what we are attempting to avoid?” The dread in Jasper’s chest spread as his mind worked. Maria had wit. And while she might have aided in Francis’ previous capture, she could scarcely be expected to know what to do when confronted with such an odious man fighting for his freedom. Hislife. “I’ll not have anyone face the danger of Francis on my behalf. You have all already done enough; it is time to set aside our pride and allow the Home Office and our local magistrate to handle this matter.”
Maria balked. “We are doing nothing to encourage Francis’ wrath, but he is well aware that we aided in his capture and Miles’ execution. I’m afraid that we are already within his sights, and whether or not we search for him, the threat is there. Currently, the most sensible course of action is inaction, caution, and preparation while we conduct a discreet search and formulate a firm plan.”
“It would be prudent for you and Juliana to seek shelter at the estates in Derby or Nottingham, and leave this matter to the professionals,” Jasper argued. “By morning, Francis’ likeness will be in every newspaper and magazine in the country; if anyone sees him, they’ll surely summon the magistrate.”
Juliana scoffed.
“I very much doubt that fleeing London would make any of us any safer,” Maria supplied, her eyes flashing with indignation. “As experience has taught us, Francis has no compunction about following his quarry, and I daresay he’s managed to secure some help to keep himself hidden.”
A huff of frustration found its way out of Jasper, and he attempted to cover it with a cough. He hated that she was right. Why it bothered him, he couldn’t be certain, but it bloody well did.
“I concede that point,” he grudgingly admitted. “It would be best, however, to?—”
