CHAPTER TWENTY
After Daniel left, Anne tried to keep her anger with him at full blast. But after a week, however much she stoked its fire, her anger slowly ebbed and desolation crept in.
He didn’t love her. He couldn’t love her and have left her the way he did. He had confided in her, and made passionate love to her, and she had believed she had finally broken through that invisible barrier that seemed always to stand between them. And the very next morning he had taken himself off to London with only a terse note to tell her where he was going.
She had thought he loved her, and she had been wrong. Instead of bringing them closer, the sharing of his life story had widened the gap between them. He had regretted confiding in her so much that he had run away. There was no other way to interpret his sudden flight.
Anne was bitterly hurt, but she called on her pride to rise above it. She would be just as aloof as he was. There would be no more melting inside whenever he so much as looked at her. She was her own woman. She still had Grex, and now she had a project to throw her heart into. She and Bonny would make the best damn school in the entire country for those factory children. Daniel could do as he liked. She wouldn’t care.
# # #
After a few weeks in residence at the Pulteney, Daniel had accomplished everything he planned to do in London. He had heard from Robbie that the security guards were safely in place at the factory, and he had attended to the legal disposition of his property should he die. The only thing that had been keeping him from an immediate return to Yorkshire was the new coach he had purchased, and the coach was now ready. Matthew had told him about some beautiful matched bays someone was selling to pay off gambling debts, and Daniel had an appointment to drive out to Kent to look at the horses that afternoon. If he purchased them, he could think of no more excuses to remain in the city.
It’s not that he didn’t want to return to Grex; he wanted desperately to be home again. He wanted just as desperately to see his wife, but another part of him shied away.
The truth about his illegitimate heritage had horrified Daniel so profoundly that he was afraid Anne would have the same reaction. He had never intended to tell her the truth, and then, like an idiot, he had blurted out the whole sordid story.
He had realized as soon as he awoke the following morning that it had been a horrendous mistake. Anne had known that in marrying him she was marrying beneath her class, but she hadn’t known she was marrying a bastard - a child who was so unacceptable he’d been cast off by his own father like a piece of garbage.
The worst part was, he knew Anne would never say a negative word about his birth. She was far too kind to ever let him know how much she disliked the fact that the father of her children was an illegitimate cast-off. But he would know how she felt, and it would eat away at him. The marriage he had come to depend on as the rock upon which the rest of his life rested, would be destroyed.
# # #
The bays Matthew had recommended impressed Daniel, and he bought them from the heartsick baron who hated to see them go. The new coach was ready and Daniel hired a coachman who was recommended by Lord Neviss. Daniel would ride home on the front seat with this coachman to assure himself the man could indeed be trusted with his horses and his wife.
Two days before he planned to leave for Grex, Daniel was walking back to his hotel after meeting with a friend from India. It was growing dark and a thick fog had descended on London. As he inhaled the foul London air, he longed with all his heart to be back at Grex – back to its pure air, its rolling countryside, its paddocks filled with his precious horses. He wanted to go home so badly, but...he was afraid. He, who at sixteen had boldly set out for India with only a small sum of money in his pocket; he, who had ventured into an unknown country without a friend in the world; he was being forced to admit he was afraid to go home and face his wife.
Daniel was brooding on this very thought as he walked through the increasing darkness and fog, when suddenly, out of the heavy mist, three men surrounded him. They were carrying heavy wood clubs and the first blow landed with excruciating pain on Daniel’s left shoulder. Instinctively he ducked and the second blow missed his head by inches.
Daniel had been in brawls like this in the streets of Calcutta, and he knew how to fight dirty. Quickly and efficiently he disabled all three of his husky attackers, leaving them sprawled on the ground groaning in pain.
“Who sent you?” he demanded as his hard eyes moved from face to face in the dim light. His own breathing was even and his tone was imperative.
No one answered. Daniel removed a small revolver from where it had been tucked into the back of his trousers and pointed it at his would-be attackers. “Who was it?” he said again.
“Don’t know,” one of them offered. He was breathing heavily through a very bloody nose.
“You got paid to do this,” Daniel said, looking inexorably from one to the other. “Tell me who paid you, or else….” He moved the revolver.
“It was Mr. Grissom!” one of the other men yelled. “He made a deal with somebody to do you. Don’t know who the cove was who paid ’im.”
Daniel had heard of Grissom. He was one of the two or three men who were behind most of the crime in the city. “Ah,” he said. Then, “You will tell Mr. Grissom for me that he would be wise not to make any more deals concerning my safety.” His voice lowered and became remarkably dangerous. “I will stop it myself if I have to, but it would be easier for Grissom if he did it himself. Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes sir,” the three men mumbled.
“Do not follow me.” Daniel turned his back on them and once more began to walk in the direction of his hotel. Before he was out of hearing range he heard one of the men say, “Where in hell did a gentry cove learn to fight like that?”
As Daniel walked into the elegant room that served as the Pulteney’s entrance hall, one of the hotel footmen came up to him with a message. “Lord Longford called, my lord. He is waiting in your apartment.” The man looked directly into Daniel’s eyes, studiously avoiding his disheveled and somewhat bloody clothing.
Damn, Daniel thought wearily. The only thing he wanted at the moment was a glass of brandy and a nice hot bath. As he went up the carpeted stairs, the adrenalin that had flooded his body began to ebb, and his left shoulder began to throb. It had been a hard hit.
He opened the door to his rooms, affixed a smile to his face, and walked into the parlor. Matthew was sitting on the sofa but he stood up as Daniel appeared and started toward him, hand held out. “I’m sorry to intrude on you,” he began, then he too noticed Daniel’s clothes. “Good God! What happened? Have you been drinking?”
“No.” Daniel walked to the wing chair that was placed perpendicular to the sofa and sat down, careful to protect his shoulder. “But I could use a drink right now. Would you mind getting me a glass of brandy? It’s over there, on the cabinet. Pour yourself one while you’re there.”
Matthew filled a glass almost to the top and brought it to Daniel. “Here you go, old boy. Drink it down.”
Daniel drank half the glass then laid it on the table next to him. “I had a little run-in with three ruffians on my way back here. They attacked me before I saw them. I must be getting careless now I’m back in England. I would have seen or heard them in India.”
“You were attacked? Were you alone?”
“I was.”
Matthew frowned and shook his head. “Not a good idea, Daniel. Especially not in the fog and the dark. Did they get anything from you?
“No.” Daniel drank the second half of his brandy. “They weren’t looking for just anyone, Matthew. They were looking for me.”
Matthew lips tightened and he said sharply, “Are you certain about that?”
“Yes. They told me a chap named Grissom paid them to jump me.”
“Christ!” Matthew exploded to his feet. After pacing the length of the room once, he turned to face his brother. “I’m sorry, Daniel. I never dreamed my father would go this far.”
“Your father?” Daniel was nonplussed. “Do you think your father hired those men?” He shook his head as if to clear it. “They were after me because of the factory, Matthew. It wasn’t your father.”
“I think it might be.” Matthew was very pale as he returned to his seat on the sofa.
“No,” Daniel said. “That doesn’t make sense. I know he despises me, but I’m simply a nuisance to him. There’s no reason for him to arrange my death!”
“You don’t understand,” Matthew said. “He more than despises you, Daniel. He hates you. It’s bizarre, I know, but your existence is driving him mad. If his friends didn’t know about your connection to us, then you wouldn’t matter. But the thought that his bastard son is the owner of a revolutionary factory - and all of London knows it - is making him insane.”
Daniel was frowning. “But ...why should he care what I do? He’s never acknowledged my existence.”
Matthew leaned forward, picked up his glass, and drank half of his brandy. He returned the glass to the table with a click, and looked at Daniel. The brandy had put a little color back in his face. “My father has this ridiculous obsession about the purity of the Montfort blood. Our family is very old, you see. My forebears fought in the crusades and at Crecy and Agincourt. In my father’s eyes, Montforts rank far higher than the present King of England and his family. He was furious when you married Lady Anne Grex and became Grex’s owner. The Grex family is even older than ours, you see, and my father hates the thought of you contaminating their ancient lineage.”
Contaminating. Daniel had thought that very word about himself.
Matthew continued, “My father still lives in the middle ages, Daniel. I’ve tried to enlighten him, to no avail. And unfortunately, my sisters – with the exception of Louisa - tend to agree with him.”
Daniel shifted in his chair and winced as his shoulder felt the movement.
“You’re hurt!” Matthew said.
“They surprised me and one of them got a bash in on my shoulder. As I said, I’ve become too sanguine now I’m in England.”
“Let me get you another brandy,” Matthew said.
Daniel held out his glass.
Once the two of them were settled again, glasses in hand, Matthew said gloomily, “You can imagine what dear Papa thinks of my interest in geology.”
Daniel’s black eyebrows arched. “I imagine he doesn’t like it.”
Matthew drank some brandy. “Hates it, Daniel. Absolutely, utterly hates it. But I have fulfilled my duty to the dynasty by producing a son, and I am determined to join Smith’s work in Somerset again. His findings have been amazing.”
Daniel finished his brandy and said, “Most of the mill owners in Manchester hate me. I was thinking they were probably the ones who hired Grissom.”
Matthew looked up from his brandy glass. “Factory owners? Why should they want you out of the way?
“Because they’re stupid and short-sighted and terrified that my ‘experiment’ is turning their workers into revolutionaries.”
“Daniel, listen to me. I cannot emphasize enough how much the government is afraid of all so-called revolutionaries. The Home Secretary, Sidmouth, is hysterical on the subject.”
“What did the government expect when it suspended the Habeas Corpus Act?” Daniel leaned forward, ignoring the pain in his shoulder. “This government gave magistrates the power to send any person they deemed a danger to public order to prison! And these prisoners can be kept confined indefinitely. Sidmouth and his friends are making revolutionaries by such outrageous decrees.”
“Daniel, my father thinks Sidmouth is wonderful. They both regard the lower classes as less important than cattle. Dear Papa is rabidly opposed to any change in the order of things. When he heard you were giving your employees an eight-hour day he almost had an apoplexy.” Crystal blue eyes bored into crystal blue eyes. “Watch your back, Daniel. It wouldn’t surprise me to learn my father had hired someone to get rid of you. I can assure you, it wouldn’t bother his conscience in the slightest.”
Daniel sat in silence, contemplating Matthew’s words. Matthew said, “When are you going home?”
“Thursday.”
“Be careful, Daniel. I like having a brother and I don’t want to lose you. And remember, if things turn ugly, it doesn’t hurt to have a future earl on your side.”
Daniel smiled. “Thank you, Matthew,” he said sincerely.
He kept the smile pinned to his face until Matthew had closed the door behind him. Then he stood and, cradling his left arm with his right hand, he rang the bell to call for a bath.