How much more entranced could he be?Nicholas exhaled and glanced at the sky framed through the windows.The late afternoon sun prismed through the beveled windows, castingdazzling reds, oranges, yellows, blues and greens.
All her fears should now be eradicated withthe imprisonment of Lady Sutherland and Willean. She had told himhe was her Guardian angel and embraced him with a delight thatfilled him with a tenderness so deep he ached inside.
Then why the bothersome doubt that ranfrigid along his spine?
He leaned into her, brushing the top of hernose with his lips. “I won’t rest until I know you’re safe, andyou’ll never be safe until we figure out who is against theRutland’s.”
She tucked her hair behind her ear. “Withyou, Nicholas, I always feel secure.”
He grabbed her hand and placed it on hisheart. “I have to return to London for two days on business. If youwalk around Belvoir, it will be with guards. And you will not leavethe grounds at all.
“Anthony said that Cuthbert Noot, the manwho tried to kill him and Rachel, claimed that there was a verywealthy and powerful man who would stop at nothing. Cuthbert wasshot before he could reveal anything.”
“Do you think the man Cuthbert talked aboutwas responsible for the carriage trying to run us over at theopera?” asked Rachel.
“Probably because Lady Sutherland denied anyarrangement of that event.”
ChapterThirty
In one of the huge salons in Belvoir, Racheland Aunt Margaret sat across the table from Alexandra, mired in amyriad of wedding details and mountains of lists. And the number ofguests? Dear Lord, it seemed half the country had been invited.
Alexandra marveled at Nicholas’s matronlyaunt. The elderly woman was a maestro, and in terms of logisticscould match wits with the admiralty.
Aunt Margaret looked up from her writing.“The only dark cloud to the wedding is the frightening menace thatlurks. From now until the wedding is a perfect venue forouradversary to attackwhile everyone is busy.”
Alexandra dipped her quill into ink andscratched across the parchment. “Everyone looks to LordDrummond”
Rachel shook her head, leaned over andpatted her dog, Casey, an adorable, brown and white, SpringerSpaniel. “Not everyone thinks Lord Drummond is responsible. Likeyou, Alexandra, Duke Cornelius gives me the shivers. He is likeholes in Swiss cheese, something is missing.”
Alexandra placed the quill down and pushed afinished stack of correspondence toward Aunt Margaret. “Twice hehas called me Lucretia.”
Aunt Margaret stared at her. “That does notbode well at all. Have you told Nicholas?”
Alexandra sighed. Casey ambled over, restedher dome-shaped head on Alexandra’s lap, begging her with thosegold-brown eyes. She reached down and massaged the dog behind herears. “We have been so busy. I mentioned the situation once, but wewere interrupted and the circumstance was forgotten.”
“To tell you the truth, I don’t like himeither,” said Aunt Margaret. “I never would have absolved him likeRichard had after Cornelius abducted Lucretia. Lord Westbrookarrived years later, totally humble, penitent and bearing gifts,enough to charm the devil. Lucretia was long dead and everythingwas forgiven.”
“He told me about the affair on the island,where the Duke put out Cornelius’s eye with a sword, defendingLucretia and his banishment by his father.”
Alexandra gathered a stack of papers spreadlike a deck of cards. With a sharp tap, she straightened them in anorderly row. “Don’t you see a pattern? Abductions, hismodusoperandi.”
“Stay close to Belvoir,” Aunt Margaretwarned.
“Rachel and I have been invited for teatoday at the Duke of Banfield’s. Nicholas sent a note saying it wasfine to go as long as we have guards,” said Alexandra.
“The Duke of Banfield and Humphrey arelovely company and so full of good humor,” said Rachel. “I do needto get out a bit.”
Aunt Margaret harrumphed. “I don’t like it,especially with the Duke and Nicholas called away to London. Notone bit, but if you two are determined and Nicholas said it isfine, then go and enjoy yourselves. That said, enough of thedepressing talk. These are to be happy times.”
Alexandra picked up her swan’s quill and ranthe soft feathery end beneath her chin. “It has been my experiencethat you can always enjoy life if you make up your mind that youwill.”
“That’s what I like about you, Alexandra.You are direct and will make a fine Duchess. We live in a world ofcircumlocution where one never says what one means let aloneperforms what they are supposed to do. You are a breath of freshwind, a remarkably resourceful young lady with wit and readytongue. Like you, Rachel.”
“Why thank you, Aunt Margaret,” Rachel andAlexandra chorused, and then laughed at their unison.
A footman arrived with a tray laden withtea, flaky strawberry tarts and currant scones. “I’m to remind LadySutherland and Lady Rutland that the coach will await theirdeparture in thirty minutes.”
When the servant poured, and then departed,Aunt Margaret eyed them both over her teacup. She took a sip andpursed her lips. “Needs sugar. By the way, how many children do youladies foresee?”
