To say that Aurora’s voice was filled with joy and relief would be an understatement. Nicholas couldn’t help but smile as she raced to the lady standing at the mantel across the room. Her friend was a very pretty woman, slender with an angular face and bright, friendly eyes. Her dark hair was worn in a loose bun at the nape of her neck and she was wearing a fine gown.
As the friends embraced, Imogen promptly burst into tears. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry I frightened you,” she murmured against Aurora’s shoulder.
“What the fuck are all ofyoudoing here?”
Nicholas pivoted to face his half-brother. He’d noticed him at the sideboard, of course, when they first entered, but had been too focused on Aurora’s needs to prepare for whatever would come.
Oscar Fitzhugh was a tall man, broad-shouldered and built like he knew how to fight. The oldest of their collection of half-blood, older than Robert even. The first of the Roseford brood to have entered the world. He had some silver in his hair and it speckled his beard. His brow was low, furrowed with frustration and his dark gaze flitted over Selina and Nicholas with unmasked disgust.
“Imogen, this wasnotour arrangement,” he snapped.
Imogen stepped away from Aurora and toward his brother, and Nicholas caught his breath. He could see the connection there between them, as hot and hard and heavy as his own with Aurora. It seemed his brother had offered more than shelter to this woman, and Nicholas had no idea howthatfact would play out now that there was a roomful of spies and investigators set to sweep her away for her protection.
“I didn’t know,” Imogen said softly.
Fitzhugh’s cheek twitched ever so slightly, as if he didn’t fully believe that statement. The two held stares for a long moment, a challenge, a battle that no one else in the room could truly understand.
“Shedidn’tknow,” Aurora said as she crossed to stand beside Imogen and held out a hand to Fitzhugh. “Mr. Fitzhugh, you have no idea how much I owe you for helping my friend. I could never repay you.”
Fitzhugh stared at her outstretched hand a moment and then took it, shaking it gently. “There is no repayment necessary. It was my pleasure,” he said softly.
Aurora’s gaze flitted toward Imogen, and Nicholas wondered if she were just recognizing the connection between the two as he had. She cleared her throat and said, “But I swear to you that Imogen had no idea I was bringing this small army with me. I thought you might not see us if I told you I was bringing help. But that is what this group is. Everyone here wishes to assist with this investigation. Help Imogen.”
Fitzhugh’s jaw tightened and then he nodded. “I suppose I understand that.” He faced the gathered crowd. “I think most of us need no introduction.”
“Yes, you wrote us off long ago, didn’t you?” Selina said, folding her arms. “So why waste time on pleasantries now.”
“Selina,” Derrick said softly, his hand coming to the small of her back. Then he nodded toward Fitzhugh and introduced himself. The others followed.
“And now that we’ve participated in Mrs. Huntington’s requiredpleasantries,” Fitzhugh said with a quick glance for Selina. “Perhaps we can get down to what we’re all here for.”
“Imogen, where have you been? What happened?” Aurora said, grasping her friend’s hands and drawing her to a settee in the middle of the room. The rest took places around them.
Imogen’s cheeks darkened. “I didn’t expect to be telling this story for an audience,” she whispered.
Fitzhugh snorted out a soft sound at the sideboard and poured a splash of madeira into a glass. He moved to the settee and handed it over to Imogen. She lifted her gaze to him and again their eyes held. A thousand unspoken words flowed between them.
“You have nothing to be ashamed of,” Fitzhugh said at last. “And you owe them nothing. None of them were invited, so they can all get the fuck out of my club.”
Imogen swallowed as she looked to the others. “Can you truly help me?”
The Duke of Willowby stepped forward. “I think we can, Mrs. Huxley.Ifwe understand what is going on. But if you don’t wish to tell the story to an audience, we can step out. Only my wife would stay to record your statement if that would make you more comfortable.”
“But she’ll repeat it to you all anyway,” Imogen said with a small sigh. “She would have to in order for you to understand.”
Willowby inclined his head slightly, acquiescing that it would be the truth. Aurora held her tighter, a silent support as Imogen tried to decide what to do. She glanced up at Fitzhugh again. “It will be worth the humiliation.”
His jaw set and his hand fluttered at his side as if he wanted to touch her. But he didn’t. He just watched as Imogen took a gulp of wine before she handed the glass back to Fitzhugh. Then her gaze dropped down.
“I…I was in dire straights after my husband’s death. My prospects weren’t very good and I thought perhaps becoming a man’s mistress would be the best way to survive.” Dark color filled her cheeks, but Nicholas was impressed with the strength with which she continued on. No wonder she was Aurora’s friend. They both had that steel in their spines, hidden beneath beauty and charm. “I made a bad choice and ended up at the wrong place…a brothel called the Cat’s Companion. The woman who runs it is a monster. And I saw…I saw something I wasn’t meant to see.”
Imogen cleared her throat, and to Nicholas’s surprise Oscar reached down and pressed a hand to her shoulder. His dark expression softened a fraction as his fingers curled there, holding her steady. She sat up a little straighter at the touch.
“A-A murder,” she whispered. “Or the aftereffects. There was a body. I tried to get away, but they saw me. And they made chase. I stumbled into Oscar—Mr. Fitzhugh—and he has been hiding me ever since, trying to help me prove what I know. What I saw.WhoI saw.” She lifted her gaze to him. “He saved my life.”
Fitzhugh’s nostrils flared a fraction and he released her. “I didn’t do much. But this situation goes deep. Much deeper than one murder.”
Willowby nodded and exchanged a glance with his wife. “The War Department suspects as much. Between what we’ve gleaned and what help we’ve had from Mr. Barber and Mr. Huntington’s sources, I think we’re close to uncovering the mastermind behind this…ring of blackguards.”
