CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
“Mr. Spriggot and Mr. Brown have arrived, my lord.”
“Thank you, Pennyroll,” Dev said, ushering Lilly to the stairs. “Are they in my uncle's study?”
“Yes, my lord. The Duke and Mr. Sinclair are at present with him.”
“Of course they are,” Dev muttered, taking the stairs two at a time and dragging Lilly behind him.
Devon had taken Lilly driving in the park. She suspected this was to keep her busy, so she did not go off on her own, but she did protest. Three days after she had received that letter, she was still looking over her shoulder wherever she went.
“They could not simply have waited until I arrived.”
Lilly had noticed that only his siblings could make Devonshire Sinclair surly. For the most he was a pleasant, affable man—to those who did not know him well. To the rest, his family and her, he was demanding, officious, and she loved every inch of him, because his behavior stemmed from the need to keep his people safe. She had no doubt if he could get away with it, he would take them all to an island somewhere and set the boat adrift.
They heard the rumble of voices as they reached the room. Dev flung the door open and towed Lilly inside. James and Cam were seated beside each other, and two other men sat opposite.
“Good afternoon, Lord Sinclair.”
“Mr. Spriggot,” Dev said, pushing Lilly into a chair. “This is my fiancée, Miss Braithwaite.”
“Miss Braithwaite,” the detective said, gaining his feet and bowing, which caused a few strands of hair on his head to slip their moorings and dangle down the side of his face momentarily, until he swept them back into place with a gesture Lilly was sure he had made many times.
“Mr. Spriggot.” Lilly nodded to the innocuous-looking man. Small and thin, he was dwarfed by the men around him.
“And this is Mr. Brown,” Dev said, shaking hands with the other man.
“Mr. Brown,” Lilly said, nodding to him. He had hands bigger than ham hocks and a large bald head and blunt features. “Hello, James and Cam,” she added. Dev acknowledged them with a curt nod and then prowled to the fireplace.
“Did you enjoy your drive, Lilly?”
“Yes, thank you, Cam.”
“Perhaps you could begin at the beginning, Miss Braithwaite. His Grace and Mr. Sinclair have told me some of what has transpired, but perhaps you could fill in the gaps, as it is you who are the intended target.”
Lilly watched Dev's shoulders stiffen. His eyes had narrowed and were focused intently on the man. He had not liked being reminded of her abduction. Gone was her amiable fiancé, and in his place was the ruthless lord she knew he could be.
“It began when I was told the children were being taken.” Lilly told the two men everything she knew, and then answered each and every question they politely asked of her.
“Tea, Lord Sinclair.”
“Thank you, Pennyroll, and please bring the brandy also,” Cam said. It seemed he had also noted the tension in his brother.
“You have been very clear with your details, Miss Braithwaite, and Mr. Brown and I thank you for that,” Mr. Spriggot said, waving away the brandy Cam tried to hand him and instead nodding to the teapot. Lilly picked it up and poured him a cup.
“I shall start on my enquiries at once, and I believe Mr. Brown has an associate that he will station at Temple Street. Is that not so, Mr. Brown?”
“Indeed it is. He's a good man and I shall take him there immediately after I leave here, if that is all right with you, Lord Sinclair?”
Devon looked to Lilly. “Will that suit you?”
“Yes, that will be excellent, thank you,” she said, giving Dev a small smile to acknowledge he had asked her advice instead of just confirming Mr. Brown's words.
“If I may add to what we have already discussed,” Devon said, “this note was waiting for Lilly when she reached Temple Street three days ago, when she went to see the fire.”
Silence settled heavily in the room as each man read the words.
James growled, Cam hissed. Mr. Spriggot and Mr. Brown regained their feet.
“Well then, this note would suggest we must move with some expediency. We shall say good day to you all,” Mr. Spriggot said, bowing.
Pennyroll appeared to escort the two men out.
“It's a smoky business, this abducting children and then you, Lilly,” Cam said, busy placing two small triangle sandwiches on top of each other before jamming the lot in his mouth.
“Must you continually cram food into that great cavernous hole, Cambridge?” Dev growled.
Rehashing the entire incident had unsettled him, Lilly thought, watching Dev glare at his brother.
“I'm a growing lad,” Cam said around the food, then, swallowing, he offered his brother a smile. “And as it is our uncle's food, it need not concern you how much of it I eat.”
Lilly smiled into her teacup as James joined the Sinclair brothers in their arguing. It seemed they all needed to release some tension. She wondered if her cousin realized that it was now second nature to him to get involved, when before he would have watched in bemused wonder as she did.
“Oh lord, look at the time.”
“What's the problem, Raven? It is only two in the afternoon. Did you miss your nap perhaps?” Devon taunted him.
James gave him a foul look before speaking. “No, I forgot that we,” he said, sweeping his hand around the room, “are meant to be taking the children to Mr. Rolland's Circus of Strange and Ridiculous Curiosities in precisely forty minutes.”
“I say, are we?” Cam said, leaping to his feet. “I saw the advertisement for that in the paper. It looks exciting.”
“You're twenty-eight years old, man. How can you possibly be excited about a show that features a bearded lady and a mermaid?” James looked disgusted.
“I live life to the full and embrace every new opportunity, James, so I can remain unjaded, unlike you and my brother here.”
James merely raised an eyebrow and then looked at Dev. “I would rather be classed as jaded, wouldn't you, Sinclair, than imbecilic.”
“Amen to that,” Dev vowed.
“That's very harsh criticism of Cam,” Lilly said, climbing to her feet and slipping her arm through her soon-to-be brother-in-law's. “I think your enthusiasm is wonderful.”
“Wonderful? Well, in that case, you can accompany us and be enthusiastic when the children run their sticky fingers all over you,” Dev said, pushing off the mantle to come toward her. “They will be taking some homemade sweets with them that my aunt's cook has made especially for the occasion.”
“I don't think—”
“Escape is impossible, I'm afraid,” Dev said, planting a kiss on her lips as he passed.
“But I need—”
“To gather your things, as we leave in precisely in twenty minutes,” James said, patting her head as he also headed for the door.
“Wrap up warm, Lilly, there is definitely a nip in the air,” Cam said, giving her arm a squeezed before he too left the room. She stood there for several seconds just enjoying the feeling of being wanted and loved, of having family, and then with a silly giggle she hurried from the room to find Essex. As she had nothing to wrap up warm in she would need to borrow something from her soon-to-be sister-in-law. She also would need to send her Aunt Vi and Nicholas word of where she was going.
How had she lived for so long without these people to fill her life?