“Pit of venomous snakes.” She smiled. “But we digress.”
“No, please, I have all day to digress if it stops me entering the Carlow townhouse.”
“You must do this, Nathan.” Abby pulled a handkerchief from her reticule. She then spat on it.
“If you come near me with that thing, I will not be responsible for my actions. Good god, you’ve been a mother a handful of months and you’re already spitting on cloths and attempting to clean me!” Nathan looked at his sister in disgust.
Chapter Six
The Carlow townhouse was in one of the best areas of London. Lord Carlow was a wealthy man who, Beth had thought, managed his estates and finances well after the death of his father, the late Lord Carlow, who had been a high-ranking Royal Navy officer.
What he had actually done was sell his country’s secrets to Russia for exorbitant amounts of money.
Beth felt the surge of anger she always got thinking about what he’d done and how they now paid the price for his perfidy.
She sat at the desk in her favorite parlor writing a note to accompany the ledger she’d stolen from Lord Russell. She’d been told to send anything she found to the Grillion Hotel, addressed to M. A. Trunk. Beth believed that had to be the loathsome Mr. Logan. She had no doubt he was here in London watching her every move.
I have met Mr. Valentine; I will now attempt to gain his confidence. This is what I retrieved from Lord Russell’s desk. It’s my hope that this, along with the other things I will obtain, will be enough to release my family from the hold you have over us.
Beth sealed the note but did not sign it. She would put her name to nothing.
“Enter,” she answered the knock. The man who moved into the room was large in every way. Tall, broad shouldered, he had a scowl on his face that told Beth someone had annoyed him. He wore breeches, a shirt, necktie, and waistcoat. Those were the only allowances he made for Beth and her mother and the fact they now resided in the city, rather than his preferred location of the country.
Born in America, Lucas Hunt had been indentured to a ship’s captain as a boy. He had then traveled to England. Upon arrival in Portsmouth, he’d fallen ill with fever. The captain had ordered him to shore and then left England without him.
Somehow, he’d started the journey to London, and it was on the side of the road Beth’s mother found him. Had Lady Carlow not been looking out the carriage window, she would not have seen Lucas resting against the trunk of a tree, but she had, and her gentle heart had demanded the carriage stop.
She took him, feverish and delirious, with her back to their estate, and there he’d stayed. That was twelve years ago; he’d never left and now was fiercely loyal to the Carlow family, but most especially Beth’s mother.
“What has happened now, Lucas?”
“Your housekeeper told me I needed to learn some manners.” He scowled.
“And I’m sure Mrs. Peabody did not mean to be rude to you.”
“How is it you can stand being here in this filthy-smelling city with so many people?” he added.
“It’s not something you like or dislike; it’s something you do,” Beth said.
“Which makes sense to no one,” he muttered. “I don’t like you and your mother going to social engagements without me.”
“And yet you cannot come, Lucas. We’ve discussed this.”At length, Beth added silently.
He knew something was not right with the Carlows, just not what. The fact they had traveled here, leaving Beth’s father bedridden after suffering a seizure had confused Lucas. Yes, Lord Carlow was recovering, but still they should have been at his bedside. Instead they’d chosen to return to London after three years and reenter society.
“Lady Blake, Miss Blake, and Miss Mary Blake have called, Miss Carlow.”
“Thank you, Leonard,” she said to the butler who appeared in the doorway. “I shall come shortly.”
“Is this one of those morning calls your mother told me about?” Lucas asked.
“It is, so run away and hide. If the women see you, they’ll swoon and demand to be introduced,” Beth teased.
He scowled.
“Don’t go out without me” were his parting words.
The click of the door had her inhaling deeply. She’d known, of course, that reentering society would have morning callers once again appearing on their doorstep. She had no illusions that they were here to simply see how she was and chat about nothing of importance. No, the Blake women, with the exception of Mary, would want to find the reason for her disappearance from society and why she and her family had stayed away for so long.
