“I’m afraid his lordship and the ladies have walked over to the vicarage to meet the new vicar, your grace,” Greaves informed Maitland when he arrived back at Beauchamp House the following day.
He was bone tired, and still troubled over his conversation with his mother the day before. But he needed to see Daphne before he could rest—because, truth be told, he missed her.
Handing his hat, gloves, and greatcoat to the butler, he asked for hot water to be sent to his room. Then, recalling what Lady Celeste’s note in Renfrew’s belongings had said, he asked the older man if he could recall the name of his aunt’s solicitor in Battle.
“Yes, your grace,” Greaves said with a nod. “It was a Mr. Hargrave.”
A flash of some emotion Maitland couldn’t read crossed the butler’s face, and something about how quickly the man was able to recall the name told him it wasn’t the first time he’d heard the question. “Lady Daphne asked after Hargrave while I was away, didn’t she?”
“Indeed, your grace. Though she did not ask for the man’s direction.” He gave a small smile. “I believe she was waiting for your return, if I may say so.”
Well, thank heavens for that, at least. Maitland had been half expecting to learn Daphne had traveled to Battle on her own when the butler told him she was home.
With thanks to the man, he hurried upstairs to wash off the worst of his travel dirt and change clothes, then because he was mindful of getting to the vicarage before the others left, slipped through the secret passageway off the kitchens and took the shortcut along the shore.
“When the vicar’s housekeeper showed him into the comfortable drawing room of the tidy manor house, his cousin, sister, and the four bluestockings looked up in surprise at his entrance. Daphne was seated beside a handsome man with curling light brown hair and smiling eyes.
Maitland hated him on sight.
“Your grace,” the man, who must be the new vicar, said with a warm smile. “I am glad to meet you. From what your sister and her friends have said, you are a most amusing fellow.”
The duke glanced at Lord Kerr, who gave a slight shrug as if to say “What did you expect?”
Then his cousin stood and performed the introductions. “Reverend Lord Benedick Lisle, may I introduce my cousin the Duke of Maitland?”
“That sounds rather imposing, doesn’t it?” said Lisle after he and the duke exchanged bows. “Among friends, I am just Ben.”
“And are you?” Maitland asked, with a raised brow. Something about the fellow set his back up. Perhaps the fact that he’d seemed so cozy sitting next to Daphne when he arrived. “Among friends, I mean. You’ve only just met us all today, as I understand.”
Before the vicar could respond, Lady Serena spoke from where she was seated beside Daphne on a rather hideous green chintz settee. “We have actually determined that Benedick shares many acquaintances in common with us, Maitland. And he is the brother of Lord Freddy Lisle. Were you not at school with him?”
On closer inspection, Lisle did bear a striking resemblance to his brother Freddy, whom Maitland had known at university. And in that context, his good looks and charm made absolute sense. The Lisle brothers were known for their way with the ladies.
“Indeed, I was,” he said. “Though Freddy was a year ahead of me. We did run in some of the same circles.”
“Freddy knows everyone,” the vicar said with a laugh. “I have yet to visit any part of England where I haven’t met someone who has at the very least heard of him.”
“But surely it is your brother Lord Cameron Lisle who is the more famous of the two,” Gemma said from where she was examining a shelf of books. “He is quite well known as one of England’s foremost natural scientists. I’ve read all of his treatises. They’re quite fascinating.”
Benedick hid a smile. “I would promise to tell my brother of your praise in my next letter,” he said, “but I’m afraid his sense of his own importance is already quite outsized enough.”
“One cannot blame him for being proud of his achievements,” Daphne said, coming to the absent man’s defense. “There is nothing wrong with being aware of one’s own strengths.”
Further conversation was stalled by the arrival of the tea tray, which Lady Serena offered to preside over.
“Your cousin and the ladies were telling me a bit about what happened here before my predecessor retired,” the vicar said as cups were handed around. “I must confess, it does not sound like the sort of thing I am used to as a general rule. Most parish scandals are rather dull.”
He was referring, of course, to Ivy’s kidnapping and the former vicar’s harm at the hands of Lady Celeste’s killer.
“Unfortunately, we seem to be prone to some rather unusual happenings in the area,” Lord Kerr said, taking a seat on the divan beside Ivy. “I suppose you’ve heard by now about the business with Sommersby at Beauchamp House?”
“A bad business,” Lord Benedick agreed. “Mrs. Northman was quite happy to fill me in on the particulars.” He gave a slight grimace. Clearly, he had not been charmed by the magistrate’s wife, Maitland thought wryly. The matron would be quite disappointed.
“She is a very unpleasant woman,” Daphne said with her customary certainty.
Maitland was prepared to defend her to the clergyman, but he only said mildly, “I cannot disagree, Lady Daphne. Though it is perhaps un-Christian of me to say so.”
“She is hardly in a position to cast judgment.” Sophia turned from her examination of a small landscape hanging above the fireplace. “Mrs. Northman, I mean. She who is without sin and all that, after all.”
The vicar raised a brow. “I hope no one here will be casting stones any time soon.”
“Only into the sea, Lord Benedick,” said Sophia with a hint of color in her cheeks. “Much as it would satisfy me to take Mrs. Northman down a peg. She has been quite unpleasant to several of my friends now. And I do not tolerate such for long.”
“Most loyal of you,” replied the vicar with an approving glance.
The conversation then turned to other, less-inflammatory topics, like the local congregation and how the newcomer was settling in. Before long Lady Serena rose, as did the others, to take their leave.
When Maitland lingered behind the others, Daphne did as well, telling them that they would be along soon.
“I had hoped for a word alone with the vicar,” he said in a low voice as she placed her hand on his arm.
“But this involves me as well as you,” she said with a frown. “Why should I not be here when you speak to him?”
Lord Benedick, who watched them with some amusement in his eyes from his place before the mantle, bit back a grin. “I take it you wish to speak to me about performing a marriage?”
Startled, Maitland turned to him. “What makes you guess that?” Perhaps he and Daphne wished to speak to the fellow on some arcane matter of theological importance. Or they wished to invite him to supper at Beauchamp House. They could be here for any number of reasons.
“For one thing,” the vicar said, looking from one to the other, “as soon as you entered the room, your grace, Lady Daphne’s entire demeanor lightened.”
Daphne frowned, and placed a hand to her cheek as if to verify the statement.
“And you, Maitland,” he said to the duke, “scanned the room until you found her, then relaxed, as if knowing her location allowed you to be calm again.”
Maitland wasn’t sure if he was pleased or annoyed at the other man’s assessment.
“The duke has just returned from London where he acquired a special license,” Daphne said. “That is, I presume you were successful?”
“Of course.” Maitland was not a mathematics genius, but he was quite able to exert his ducal influence when necessary. “And, as you guessed, we should like you to perform the ceremony. Here in your church preferably.”
He hadn’t discussed the matter with Daphne, but Maitland had fond memories of sitting beside his aunt in the family pew here as a boy.
But the idea seemed to appeal to Daphne, and she nodded her agreement.
“I would be delighted,” said the vicar with a warm smile.
They made plans for ceremony in three days’ time with just their friends in attendance.
As he walked them to the door, however, Lord Benedick stopped. “I just remembered. There was something I found while going through some papers my predecessor left behind. If you’ll wait for just a moment?”
And before they could protest, he hurried from the room, returning a moment later carrying a sealed letter.
“I didn’t make the connection until you arrived this afternoon, Lady Daphne,” the vicar said as he handed it to her. “And then there was no convenient moment to bring it into the conversation. I suppose you met the old vicar before he departed and he wished you to have it?”
But when Daphne held out the missive, her scrawled name was in Celeste’s handwriting.
“Thank you very much,” she said, staring down at the page. She made no mention of what the note could pertain to. Noting the seriousness of her expression, the vicar didn’t ask.
Ready to get her alone so that they could open it, Maitland bowed to the clergyman and they made their farewells.
They made their way to the path leading from the vicarage to the sea stairs in silence.
As if by mutual agreement, they didn’t stop to read the note until they were at the bottom of the stairs, out of sight of both the vicarage and Beauchamp House, which loomed over the cliffside cave entrance that served as the portal to the secret passageway.
There, Maitland handed Daphne down to sit on one of the lower steps, and he sat down beside her.
She slid a finger beneath the seal and opened the folded page.
* * *
Daphne had felt such a cavalcade of emotions since arriving at the vicarage that morning, she almost suspected she was sickening with something.
If the Reverend Lord Benedick Lisle was to be believed, she was love sick, though she knew very well that whatever it was she felt for Maitland was something far less hysterical. She wasn’t even sure she was capable of such a thing as love. Affection? Absolutely. Attraction? Certainly. But love implied flights of fancy and public declarations. And she was as prosaic as ever.
Even so, when he’d arrived in the parlor of the vicarage, she had felt a spark of elation to see him after his absence. Had it only been a day or so? If one measured by how much she’d missed him, it would have been a month at least.
She hadn’t realized just how transparent her affection for him had become—for that was what it was—until the vicar mentioned how she’d looked on seeing Maitland’s arrival. She wasn’t normally one to wear her emotions on her sleeve. But then the past few days had been far from normal.
She’d been so pleased to see him, in fact, she hadn’t even argued with him over his decision for their wedding to take place in the church. It wasn’t that she was against having it there, but she had thought perhaps the gardens of Beauchamp House would be pleasant. The wedding was just a legal formality, however, so it hardly mattered where it took place. And Maitland seemed to be sentimental about the area, so he likely had his reasons for wanting it in the tiny church.
Their silence on their walk back toward Beauchamp House was comfortable, rather than awkward, as silences could sometimes be. And she was pleased to have him beside her, feeling the pleasant zing of attraction between them even as they did something as ordinary as walk home.
Now, seated beside him on the sea stairs, Daphne read aloud from Celeste’s letter.
My dear Lady Daphne,
I gave this letter to the vicar to, in turn, give to you should you come to him for assistance in the quest I left for you.
It is my hope that if someone should get the cipher before you, you will find the second set of clues I’ve left for you. I have always believed it is better to prepare for the worst while hoping for the best, and unfortunately, there are those who would like very much to know the location of the prize I left for you. One of the paths to it is more straightforward than the other, but I have faith that no matter which you take you will emerge the victor in my little game. Certainly no other is as quick with numbers and ciphers as you are.
It is also my hope, though he will not thank me for meddling, that my nephew Maitland will be of some use to you in this matter. He has never considered himself to be a good student, but I know him to be quite clever when it comes to handling people. And you, my dear, for all that you are an intelligent woman, are not. I have left instructions for him to take charge of your comfort at Beauchamp House and to assist you in any way he sees fit in your quest. Please allow him to help you should you need it.
You are a bright and lovely lady, Daphne. And I trust you to do whatever is best when you reach the prize. It’s why I chose this particular puzzle with you in mind.
Yours affectionately,
Lady Celeste Beauchamp
“What does she mean she ‘left instructions’ for you?” Daphne asked a sheepish Maitland. “You never mentioned anything about that?”
As she watched, he rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “It never came up,” he said in a defensive tone. “And I did not think you would be particularly pleased to learn my aunt was concerned about your lack of … that is to say your problems with…”
“My brusque manner?” Daphne asked sweetly. She was rather enjoying seeing the normally self-assured duke off his pedestal.
“That isn’t what I said,” Maitland returned with a frown. “Though you must admit that I do have a charming way about me. And I’m not nearly as good as you are at maths.”
“The fact that I am your superior when it comes to calculations is beside the point,” Daphne said with a huff. “I am more concerned about the fact that you kept your aunt’s message to you from me, when I have been thoroughly honest with you.”
“I thought she was meddling, as she said,” the duke replied, staring out at the rolling waves. “And I didn’t wish you to think I was helping you only because of what my aunt said.”
“But weren’t you?” Daphne asked. She suddenly wasn’t quite so sure that the connection she’d felt between them was as strong as she’d at first thought. Had he sought her out only because his aunt had suggested it?
She felt her heart constrict at the thought.
Folding the letter, she stood and hurried toward the cave entrance, suddenly needing to be alone to think the matter over.
“Daphne, wait!”
She heard him behind her as she stepped into the coolness of the cave. After the brightness of the seaside, her eyes took a minute to adjust to the dark, though the others had left a pair of lamps burning where they hung from hooks on the wall.
To her surprise, she felt tears well in her eyes. She hadn’t realized how much she had trusted Maitland’s attraction to her before it was in doubt.
“It isn’t what you think,” he said softly, stopping her with a hand on her arm. “My aunt’s letter had nothing to do with my interest in you.”
“I don’t see how that can be true,” she said, turning to face him, though she once again found herself unable to meet his gaze. “Indeed, your initial rejection of my advances seems to indicate that you could not see me as a potential lover because your aunt had already got you thinking of me as someone for you to look after.”
“That had nothing to do with it,” he said, grasping her by the shoulders. “Daphne, look at me.”
She swallowed, terrified at what she would see if she let her eyes meet his. But when he asked again, she looked up.
“I rejected you for the reasons I gave you at the time,” he said, his eyes intense with some emotion she couldn’t read. “Because I do not debauch innocents. And because you were my aunt’s heir, and as such off limits to such things. That is not to say that I wasn’t attracted. You know I was, from that first moment we met.”
“But I don’t know what to believe, now,” she said with a shake of her head. She looked down at the front of his coat, unable to meet his gaze any longer. “And this calls all of your actions into question. Your announcement of our betrothal to my father. Your ruse with Pinky at The Bo Peep. How do I know this wasn’t all part of some plan you concocted at your aunt’s behest?”
“All of that was genuine,” he said, tipping up her chin with his finger. “All of it. Daphne, I’ve never been more drawn to a woman than I am to you. I think of you every moment of the day. I rode for almost twenty-four hours straight just so that I could get back to you.”
She wanted to believe him. She truly did. Before Maitland she’d come to believe that she would never find a man she could truly trust—not outside of her tutor Mr. Sommersby. And there were so many things about him she had come to appreciate. His warm smile. His—yes—his charm. Even the crooked grin he seemed to save only for her.
“But what if I trust you and you let me down?” she asked in a voice so low he had to lean down to hear her.
“Oh, sweetheart.” He wrapped her in his arms, and unable to resist his nearness, she went willingly, slipping her arms around his neck and lifting her face to his. “I will let you down. Because that’s what it means to be human. But I promise you, I will try not to.”
He bent his forehead to touch hers.
“I don’t know if that’s enough,” she whispered.
“Then perhaps what’s between us can be,” he said, just before he took her mouth.