“Yes. Music was the key to his access to her. He merely needed to be patient,” Lady Malmsby said.
“And he didn’t need to be patient for long, which was fortuitous for him,” Bella said grimly. “I think he is Vizconde Miguel Carrasco-Torres. Lord Candelstone is wrong. He isnotdead. If what we have discussed is true, he is a cunning man.”
“Should we return to town then?” Gwinnie asked.
“Let’s see how close we are to our destination,” Lady Malmsby said. She rapped on the carriage hatch.
The hatch opened to the ruddy face of their coachman. “Yes, your grace?”
“How much farther to our destination?” she asked.
“We’re almost there,” the man said. “Another mile at most.”
“Thank you. That is all,” Lady Malmsby said.
“So, we go on,” Bella said.
“We go on,” Lady Malmsby concurred.
CHAPTER13
RICHMOND
“Malmsby, how’s your stable?” Aidan asked, after Lord and Lady Candelstone quit the breakfast parlor.
“I have Tintagel here. Not bloodstock, but muscular with excellent stamina. He could use stretching his legs. Jimmy,” he said, turning his head to address the footman in the room. “Go see that Tintagel is saddled and ready for Aidan as soon as possible.”
“Tell them to saddle my horse as well,” said Lord Lakehurst.
“I assume you want to ride straight for Richmond?” Malmsby said.
“I do.”
“I’ll search out this Bow Street Runner of yours and let him know.”
“Thank you.” Aidan turned and left the room. His clothing was not riding attire; however, he would not go back to his townhouse to change. If they got ruined on the ride, so be it. He prayed the Vizconde would not use Bella’s trip to Richmond as an opportunity to enact his revenge. But he couldn’t trust he wouldn’t.
Lake came rattling downstairs carrying an extra riding crop and leather gloves. “These gloves will be better than your social gloves,” he said, handing them to Aidan along with the riding crop.
The Duke came into the hall from the direction of his secretary’s office. He carried two pistols. Aidan and Lake accepted the pistols. The footman opened the front door, and both men went outside. Not a word spoken. There was no need.
A groomsman came from the direction of the mews, riding a bay horse with a black mane and leading a large sorrel horse. The groom passed the reins of the sorrel horse to Lake and slid off the bay horse’s back.
“Here you go, Mr. Nowlton. He’s a mite fractious this morning, but he’ll settle in soon enough,” the groom said. He gave Aidan a leg up. The horse pranced and sidled at the unknown rider, but Aidan kept him in hand.
Aidan turned the horse toward the Richmond road and rode ahead, threading his way through the morning traffic. He silently damned every cart, carriage, horse, and pedestrian before him that forced him to keep the horse to a walk.
In his gut he felt the Vizconde would use Bella’s, his mother’s, and Gwinnie’s trip to Richmond to his advantage. He would kill them all if he had to. Aidan could not let that happen. Would not let that happen.
And to think his brother-in-law was the author of the actions that set these events in motion was confounding. How his sister could be married to a man who could use people to achieve his goals, he could not fathom. And despite Candelstone’s faith in Bella’s abilities to protect herself, Aidan didn’t trust the Vizconde. The man could use his mother and Gwinnie to get Bella to do as he wished. And Bella would do whatever the Vizconde asked in order to protect them.
He would not lose Bella again! He loved her more than he could have ever imagined. What a fool he’d been not to see through Harry. He knew what he was like; however, naively he thought Harry would never pull one of his stories on him. He was like a brother—no, he didn’t know what a brother was like until today. Malmsby was always so many years older and caught up in the family’s misusage of him.
Why had he let theiraskscontinue? That was on him and no one else. He vowed the onlyaskshe would jump to in the future would come from Bella.
The traffic thinned. Aidan and Lake flicked the tips of their crops to urge their horses on faster. Only ten miles away, he hoped they would catch up to the coach before they arrived.
* * *
