“Devil take it. You gave me laudanum?”
“Dr. Abernathy said you’ll need it for the pain. And to get some rest.”
“Don’t need rest. Have to get the bastard who did this—”
“When you’re better. Right now you can’t stand on your own two feet let alone hunt down a murderer,” she chided gently. “If you try to move, you’ll only reinjure your wounds.”
He sagged against the pillows, his mind fuzzing in and out of focus.Have to protect them… have to tell her… even if she despises me…He fought off the fog, gripped her wrist.
“Tell Strathaven,” he said hoarsely, “he must keep everyone safe. Protect you.”
“You needn’t worry. There are footmen everywhere.”
“No.Professional guards.” His tongue was thick in his mouth, his eyelids pulling down like lead weights. He grasped the first thing that came to mind. “Your brother’s agency—promise me.”
“I promise.” Her eyes were wide, her lips trembling. “What is going on, Gabriel?”
He tried to focus as her face blurred. “The enemy… dangerous.”
“Who is he? Gabriel…”
Her voice came as if from afar. He was falling, falling into a black tunnel.
“Spectre,” he whispered.
The dark dragged him down.
Chapter Fourteen
The next afternoon, Thea waited in the drawing room for Gabriel to come down. Upon awakening, he’d insisted on calling a meeting with the others. He’d brushed aside her questions and protests that he wasn’t well enough to leave the bed.
It’s an urgent matter,he’d said tersely.I’ll explain things when everyone arrives.
There’d been no dissuading him.
Now Ambrose entered the room, his wife Marianne by his side. His brawny, brown-haired associate, Mr. William McLeod, followed. The Scotsman greeted Strathaven by buffeting him on the arm. The duke returned the favor with equal force; such was the way between the two brothers who were as different as night and day in look and manner.
Thea went to greet the newcomers. “Thank you for coming,” she said.
“Of course. How is Tremont faring?” Ambrose said.
Dark-haired and lanky, her brother was a solid, reliable man of principles. He was older than Thea by seventeen years, his mama having been their papa’s first wife, yet she’d never thought of him as anything but her full kin. From a young age, he’d provided for her and the family, and his mere presence made her feel safer.
Ambrose’s wife Mariannewas his opposite, glamorous down to her very bones. A willowy silver blonde once hailed as an Incomparable amongst theton,she was clever and possessed of a cutting wit. As different as husband and wife seemed on the surface, their devotion to one another was absolute. And more than once, Marianne’s knowledge of thetonhad helped Ambrose in his investigations.
“Tremont shouldn’t be getting out of bed,” Thea said in worried tones. “I tried to convince him to delay the meeting, but he wouldn’t hear of it.”
“Given that his carriage exploded, his haste is hardly surprising,” her sister-in-law said.
Thea’s belly churned with the fear she’d been trying to keep at bay. Gnawing on her lip, she said, “I wish I knew what was going on. Who would be behind such a dastardly attack?”
“That is why we’re here. To find out,” her brother said with reassuring calm.
Yesterday, she had honored her promise to Gabriel and sent word to her brother’s agency. Mr. McLeod had personally arrived to set up what he called a “perimeter,” with his trained men keeping watch on the Strathaven residence around the clock.
“We’re also here to see how you are faring,” Marianne added. “Emma says you’ve been running yourself ragged nursing the marquess.”
Thea shot an exasperated glance at her older sister, who was too busy chatting with Mr. McLeod to notice. “Emma is being a mother hen, as usual. I’m perfectly well.”
