Danger Wears White (13 page)

Imogen had difficulty imagining this man doing anything normal, like, oh, having breakfast, or helping with a difficult delivery during lambing-time. He’d probably never spent time close to livestock. He smelled wonderful, a sort of spicy citrus scent. Men didn’t usually wear perfume in her world.

“Careful, you’re letting your prejudices show,” the exquisite murmured so that only she could hear.

How did he do that? How could he possibly know what she was thinking?

They didn’t stop until they reached a guest bedroom. While they didn’t keep all the rooms ready, this one had lately contained Lord Dankworth, so it was freshly cleaned and prepared. Imogen opened the door.

“Did Dankworth sleep here?”

“Yes.”

“I have a strange disinclination to use the same bed. Call it fastidiousness. I will sleep on a couch if that is all you have.” He turned a laughing face to her. “What, you didn’t think me capable of it? I assure you, ma’am, I’ve slept in worse places than a comfortable couch.”

“There’s another room,” her mother said. She led the way to the next room along. “If you will give us half an hour, we can make this one comfortable for you.” She opened the door.

The room wasn’t as fine as the other. It had more old-fashioned furniture, but the bed was made up and although a fire didn’t burn in the grate, at least one was laid.

“Thank you.” His lordship turned away and took her arm. “I will be perfectly comfortable here. My man will make any changes necessary.” A Superior Being glided along the hallway. Winterton spared him a glance.

“Ah, Moon. Do come in.” Even his valet was better dressed than most people of her acquaintance. “I will sleep. You may deal with my wardrobe in the morning. Just ensure the dark blue is ready.”

“My lord.” He gave a small bow and as Imogen exited, he entered, no doubt to help his master prepare for bed. He wouldn’t like the accommodation provided for servants here. She did her best, but the quarters he had with his master were no doubt palatial.

She held her tears back until she reached her room. While she stripped off her clothes and washed herself from the bowl of cold water on her washstand, she sobbed. She took a wrung-out cloth to bed with her and laid it over her eyes.

She wouldn’t leave Tony to his fate. She’d fight for him until her last breath.

The prison cell door opened with a clang, and Tony’s cousin sauntered in. The gold braid on his dark clothes caught the dim light, gleaming with incongruous wealth.

Tony looked up from his position on the straw, but took his time swinging his legs around to his front and sitting upright. “My cousin the jailbird,” Julius said softly.

“Your doing,” Tony snapped. “I would like to know what you’re about, Julius.”

Julius took a seat on the three-legged stool, the only available seating in this cell. “How’s your arm?”

“It’ll do.”

“Who shot you?”

He grimaced. “I might have known you’d guess what had happened.”

“I didn’t until just now. So who do you think shot you?”

Tony shrugged, ignoring the resulting twinge of pain. “Dankworth. He probably knows who I am.”

“Someone told him, probably his father.” Julius got to his feet. “Tony, what the
hell
did you think you were doing?”

Tony jutted out his chin. “That document is here.” He glanced to the door, unwilling to articulate, even now, the nature of the document.

Julius nodded. “It is, I’m sure of it. Or one of them is. I think there are more copies, though.” He took the two paces, which was all the cell would allow, and spun around, striding back. “I want this one. I want proof of what we suspect, otherwise we can’t act with any certainty.” He faced Tony. “You, my bully, are going to make amends for your utter stupidity in trying to act on your own.”

“As I recall, you were somewhat busy at the time. I deemed it an urgent matter. How did I know how long you would take with Devereux? How is he, by the way?”

Julius waved a hand. “Fine, fine. That isn’t at issue here so don’t try to change the subject. We both know a few words can get you out of here.”

Tony nodded. “But as you see, I waited for you. I’ve been bitten to death by vermin, and the rats here are bolder than any I’ve known before, but here I am. Waiting.” Impatiently. “If you hadn’t looked after Imogen, I’d have ended the farce there and then.”

“That wouldn’t have done your lady-love any favors.”

Tony cast a fulminating glare at Julius. “I shall save a particularly curious rat for you, if you repeat that. A lady’s reputation is at stake.”

“Don’t get pompous with me. If you hadn’t taken her to your bed, you wouldn’t be in this mess. What got into you?”

“I thought she was the housekeeper.”

Julius’s eyes sparked fire. “And that made it acceptable, did it?”

“No.” Tony shared Julius’s belief that servants were not there to be seduced, but this one had proved irresistible. “I decided to marry her.”

Julius blinked. “Even while you thought she was a housekeeper?”

Tony nodded. “Even then. I knew what I’d done, and I was prepared to pay the price.”

“You still will if your dalliance results in pregnancy.”

Tony was surprised to discover how much that prospect appealed to him. Shocked him, as he’d been avoiding just such a fate for years. “I will. But I don’t need you to tell me that.” The woman he knew as Emmy and Imogen were the same person. She was the housekeeper; she hadn’t lied to him about that. He’d let himself believe it in a different way, that was all. “Soldiers have made worse choices.”

“You’re not a soldier any more. You’re an Emperor, and you will conduct yourself like one.”

“Or?”

Julius waved a beringed hand. “Don’t ask.”

Tony could always rejoin the army or find somewhere else to live. Julius was bluffing. Probably. “I heard you arrive. You were devilish quiet.”

“Yes. Deliberately. I had to storm the place, because I got wind of Dankworth’s plans. He was mustering his men at the inn where I was staying. Not so much of a coincidence, more because it’s the only decent inn for miles. I found the authorities, roused the constable in the middle of the night, and gave him my best aristocratic manner. I knew if I didn’t get there before Dankworth and his men, they’d most likely kill you. I am still angry with you, by the way. I don’t have enough cousins.”

Tony grinned. Since they shared a goodly number of cousins, he doubted one less would have mattered to most people. “Good of you to say so.”

Julius humphed. “Well, then, if I hadn’t had you arrested, he might have done so. And killed you. You could have been killed in the scuffle, or resisting arrest.”

“So he knows who I am?”

“I don’t know, but you were in bed with a lady he has designs on.”

Tony sighed and rubbed his hands over his head. “What happens next?”

Julius shook his head. “I’ll send orders that you are to be escorted to Newgate Prison in London. They’ll probably put you in chains.” He visibly brightened at the prospect, his eyes sparkling and a grin tilting his mouth. “You deserve at least a little more punishment. You’ll leave here Tony Shaw, but you’ll arrive in London as Antoninus Beaumont. It’s more than you deserve. If you can’t escape on your own, I’ll arrange it for you. But it’s best you stay Tony Shaw for the time being. The Dankworths would make hay if your real identity came out.”

“I can manage it. Never fear. And I’ll leave no trace of Tony Shaw behind me.”

Julius strode to the door. “Don’t make a mess of this.” Turning, he tossed a purse to Tony who caught it deftly. “That should help.”

It would help a great deal. He could have managed without, but the money would help his transformation nicely.

“Julius?”

“Yes?”

“Don’t tell her who I am. Oh, tell her I’m a relative, but you have a swarm of them. I could be a poor relation. I want to tell her myself.”

The time in that little room was precious to him. Never before had a woman offered herself not knowing who he was and what he could do for her. She’d wanted him, Tony, not Antoninus Beaumont, and that memory was sweet.

He didn’t want her thinking he’d deceived her to get her into bed and for that to happen he needed to tell her himself.

Julius nodded. “As you wish. You may tell her when you reach London. But if she asks pertinent questions, I will not lie.”

She wouldn’t. Not if she thought he was a humble soldier.

* * * *

The next day, after charming Imogen’s mother out of her skin, Julius requested a short time alone with Imogen. After a sleepless night Imogen couldn’t think of anything she wanted less. But at least she’d been in her comfortable bed, in her own room, unlike Tony, who was taken, like to be hanged.

He led her into the morning parlor and closed the door softly behind them.

“Now,” he said. “We will have the truth.” He took a seat on the long sofa before the unlit fire and indicated the chair with a graceful gesture. “How did you come across Tony?”

Startled, she took the seat. “You know him?”

“He’s a relative. I have a large clutch of them on my mother’s side. Taking care of their various scrapes takes much of my time.” He smiled. “They say that’s what families are for.”

Tony was related to the great Earl of Winterton? She swallowed her shock and folded her hands in her lap in an attempt at demureness.

“We need to preserve your reputation.”

“I think I destroyed that last night.” Being caught by nigh on a dozen men
en flagrante
with another would see to that. She met his gaze steadily, not ashamed of what she’d done.

He touched his chin. “Are you aware that you are a considerable heiress?”

Not really. “I have this house, which as you can see is modest by your standards, and a small estate.”

“And a legacy that your trustees have invested for you.”

“That provides an annuity for my mother.” She hadn’t concerned herself with that part of her inheritance. Her father had disposed of almost everything else, so she’d consolidated what was left and asked for her trustees to invest it in reliable funds.

“And a dowry for you. By my reckoning it amounts to twenty thousand pounds.”

Shock made her rigid. She stared at him. “I don’t understand.”

“One of your trustees is Sir Thaddeus Beaumont, who happens to be my uncle by marriage. He’s a City man, and he has put your funds to good use.”

Goodness, the man talked like a dictionary. So beautifully. Had he prepared this speech, or was it extempore? “The money will come in very useful,” she said, still trying to come to terms with what he’d told her. “I can buy more land.”

“It’s your dowry,” he reminded her. “Your portion. You won’t come into possession of it until you reach five and thirty, or you marry.”

Ten years. Not too long. She could make plans for that. “I appreciate your telling me, sir.”

“It means you will have fortune hunters beating a path to your door. I believe one already called.”

Realization hit her. For the first time in her life, she experienced the bitterness from knowing that someone wanted her for her fortune rather than herself. “Dankworth came because he learned I was worth a lot of money?”

“Not that alone.” His voice softened and he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

She hit back. “What about you, sir? Are you short of funds?”

The shot missed its mark. He laughed. “Hardly. No, my interest in you lies in another direction. You can’t stay here in your comfortable backwater any longer.” He glanced around at the room with its paneled walls and the heavily carved furniture. “Although it is an intriguing one. I have rarely seen a Tudor house in such perfect condition. Don’t change it, will you?”

“I love it as it is.”

“We might make it possible for you to return.” He smiled, and the expression transformed his face.

This was a friendly smile, one that she responded to. Humanity colored his features, as if he’d doffed a mask.

“But you will have to put up with a little interference first.” He paused, watching her steadily. She forced a smile.

“People will forget this.”

“No, I’m afraid they won’t. Oh, not your indiscretion with Tony. That’s a small affair, easily dealt with. I’ve already taken steps to limit that.”

Her relief came in a rush, bringing tears to her eyes. “I can’t see how you can do that, sir.”

“I can. And my name is Julius, if you care to use it. I wish to be your friend in this matter.”

She nodded. “I need a friend. And I’m Imogen.”

“You need several friends.” But now his smile was a friendly one, and for all the grand clothes, he appeared as approachable as any of her neighbors. “You are an heiress and a suspect person, mainly because of your father’s loyalty to the Stuarts. That means the Crown is taking an interest in you. The King and his advisors do not want a rogue heiress running around the country, especially this part of it. You could become a rallying point. A symbol for the Jacobites.”

She understood that part. With that kind of money, she couldn’t hide away, as she had been doing.

“You are going to court, make no mistake about that. If you behave, you will not have to stay there long. The court will prove a protection against your more persistent suitors.”

This was not what she wanted to hear. She didn’t care about her fate, although she supposed she should. But she wasn’t in danger. The terror that had twisted her stomach since they’d taken him away attacked her anew. “What about Tony? What will they do to him?”

He regarded her in silence, one she dared not break. His gaze roamed over her face, as if making up his mind about something. “He will be well,” he said. “They won’t hurt him, and he’ll be free in a day or two. I swear it.”

“Why did you have him arrested?”

“To save his life. The men I brought are representatives of the true authorities. The men Dankworth brought were not. Once Dankworth became aware of Tony’s presence, my sorry relative was a marked man. I had no time to muster a force of my own, so using the ones available locally seemed the best thing to do.” Julius regarded her closely. Whatever he saw made him say, “Enough for today. You will have to be brave, but we will bring this thing about. In case you’re unaware of our history, our family is opposed to the Dankworths for a number of reasons, not all of them political. They oppose us at every turn.”