Chapter 4

When Alex arrived at Lord Foxhurst’s, he was not surprised Panton’s talk was ending. He was late. Very late. He couldn’t concentrate anyway.

His mind was focused on the dangerous task he’d volunteered for. Dangerous in more ways than one…Hestia.

His best friend and fellow adventurer, Sir Adrian Hemple, greeted him as he entered the hot and smoky drawing room. “Bedford, where the hell have you been? You’ve missed Panton’s talk. Very enlightening. Makes me want to set sail immediately, only the empty coffers stopping me.”

For the first time this evening a smile came to his lips. Hemple was very open about his lack of money and was never driven by jealousy or greed. He was an attractive man with a large but unfortunately unprofitable estate. He simply needed money to invest in it, and the estate could become financially bountiful. With his looks, he could have his pick of rich debutantes or widows, but he chose to wait. He wanted to marry with honor by letting his heart be involved in any match. Alex admired his friend’s stance on the institution of marriage.

Alex looked at the men around him in the crowded room and decided it would pay to set the tongues wagging. “If you must know, I was paying my respects to Lady Hestia. Her father, the Earl of Pembroke, has died. His second cousin Fredrick Cary returned from the Mediterranean with his body two weeks ago.”

The room erupted into rapid talking. Just as he thought, the men, all adventurers at heart if not in experience, crowded round him.

“Pembroke’s dead?” asked one.

“I told him a man of his age should leave the exploring to you younger fellows.”

Soon the house was in an uproar and Panton’s lecture was forgotten as the men drank to Pembroke and reminisced about his discoveries and the antiquities he’d brought back to London.

He joined in a few toasts to a fine man, and satisfied that the gossip would get back to Fredrick and indicate he believed the earl was dead, he left Lord Foxhurst’s in search of his friend and fellow devil-driven rogue Stephen Hornsby, the Marquis of Clevedon. He would try Stephen’s favorite haunts, starting with Mrs. Kinlock. He’d heard she had a new redhead, and Stephen loved redheads.

It didn’t take him long to reach Mrs. Kinlock’s. As Alex stepped from the carriage, he noticed another hackney parked farther down the street, but no one alighted. His senses heightened, and it took only a few seconds to understand that Fredrick Cary was having him followed. Probably since he’d left Hestia’s. Thank goodness he’d stuck to his original plans and gone to Lord Foxhurst’s gathering. If he’d gone straight home Cary might have suspected something.

He stumbled as if he’d had too much to drink and leaned against the gaslight post before sauntering in the door of one of London’s most popular gentleman’s club.

It was late, well after midnight, so the stylishly decorated brothel was busy. The card room was smoky and the low murmur accompanying the wagers being placed sent a serious hush over the room.

Stephen would not be spending his time wagering with other men. He preferred other manly pursuits. Alex kept walking until he was deep into the middle of the drawing room. The lighting was dim and he could hardly make out the identity of each guest. All he heard were the sounds of pleasure reverberating within the fashionable red raised velvet wallpapered room.

He inwardly smiled, remembering many a night spent there with Stephen just before they had stupidly enlisted to fight the Turks back in 1807. He couldn’t believe it had been nine years ago. He swallowed hard. It felt like a lifetime. They were both not quite twenty years of age and thought sailing the high seas would be an adventure. His smile dimmed. It had been an adventure, but one that filled his nightmares and cost him more than any man should have to pay.

Chasing the horrors of the past away, Alex stood in the center of the room praying Stephen hadn’t gone to one of the private rooms upstairs. It would be embarrassing knocking on each of the doors to find him, and rather indiscreet if he were being watched. Although no one other than a very wealthy member of the ton could gain entrance, which was in his favor.

He picked a glass of brandy off the tray a servant proffered and asked, “Have you seen his lordship Clevedon?” The servant pointed. He could just make out Stephen’s profile over in the darkened alcove, watching the marquis’s hand sliding up a rather splendid naked leg. Before Alex could make his way to his friend’s side, a delicate feminine hand brushed over his chest.

“Your Grace, it’s been over six months since you deigned to visit us—or should I say visit me.”

Edith. She was his favorite of the women here. She was quiet yet self-assured, and he found he could relax in her company. She did not judge any of his habits. “I’ve been in Bedfordshire looking after my estate, sweeting. This is only my second day back in London and yet here I am.”

She gave him a saucy smile. “It must have been lonely. And exhausting. All that responsibility.” She pressed her near-naked body against his, the flimsy sheer cover no barrier to her warmth and feminine charms. Arousal stirred within him. Her arms slid to his shoulder and firm hands began massaging them. “Perhaps I could relieve all that tension I feel coiled in this magnificent body.” The tension she wanted to relieve was obvious as her hand trailed to his groin.

The idea of seeking relief between Edith’s experienced thighs pulled at his senses and desire pooled lower. If he hadn’t already spent the afternoon with Dianne in his bed he could have been tempted. However, he had a lot to organize this night. Speed was required if they were to steal a march on Fredrick.

He briefly closed his eyes against temptation. He was here for something far more important than sex: revenge.

“Before we play, my lovely, I have a friend I need to talk to. He’s over there. Shall we go and interrupt them?”

Edith glanced in Stephen’s direction. “He seems to be totally engrossed in private play. Perhaps we should leave them be and instead indulge in our own play—upstairs.”

He tapped her nose. “If it was private play his lordship wanted he’d have taken it upstairs.” He knew Stephen had certain tastes. The marquis enjoyed watching and being watched. Many thought him perverted, but in terms of men’s vices it was pretty harmless.

He tugged her along with him as Alex made his way across the room to the alcove. He pushed the curtain aside and sat on the end of the long daybed, pulling Edith onto his lap.

It took Stephen a few minutes before he lifted his head from between the young lady’s large breasts. He took one look at Alex and said, “As you know, I do love an audience, or perhaps you’ll let me watch you. Either way, it’s a pleasure to see you, my friend. When did you come to town?”

“Yesterday.” He tried to ignore Edith’s hand as it stroked him through his breeches. Deep breaths. “I hate to do this, but I need a quick chat before you get too engrossed.”

Stephen stared at him for a long minute. “It can’t wait until tomorrow in my study?”

Alex shook his head. “I’m afraid not. Plus, best it seem like we are having nothing more than a night of amorous pleasure.”

“That’s exactly what I was planning—and I’m still planning on accomplishing.” Alex could tell Stephen was intrigued. “Should I send our playmates upstairs to ready a room we can move to once we have chatted?” Stephen asked.

He was about to say no when Alex looked to the right and bloody hell, Fredrick Cary was entering the drawing room dressed in his mourning black. Alex knew why Cary was here. One of his scouts could not gain entrance, so Cary risked society’s displeasure and had taken the scandalous step of attending a brothel while still in mourning for the man whose title and estate he’d just inherited. All in order to spy on Alex.

Their eyes locked across the dim room and Alex slowly stood, pushing Edith off his lap and behind him as Cary approached.

He didn’t wait for Cary to speak but used his ducal voice. “Not the done thing, old boy,” Alex said, “with Jonathan not even a month in his grave.”

“You’ve heard then?” Cary asked.

“Lady Hestia and her aunt had the decency to inform me this afternoon. Something you should have done. I would have thought you could have sent me a missive. I would like to have attended his funeral to pay my respects.”

“His body was so badly decomposed we had to bury him as soon as we reached Pembrokeshire. He’s buried in the family plot. At least I did not dump his body at sea.”

Alex nodded. “I thank you for that. Lady Hestia would have been heartbroken.”

“Just doing one’s duty now that I am the earl.”

Alex had to work hard to ensure his face remained placid. “Yet you think it appropriate to attend Mrs. Kinlock’s?”

The new earl glanced past him at Stephen, and Fredrick let a sneer form. “We both know we have done a lot worse.”

Alex stayed calm in the face of Fredrick’s knowing taunt. “True. However, that was when we were young and foolish. It would seem you’re no longer young, but still foolish. This is not how you want to start your new position and title. Respect once lost is hard, if not impossible, to regain.” Alex knew that from painful experience. His dependence on opium changed him. His behavior was appalling, and his father…His father had been so disappointed and ashamed of him. His father could not understand the hell he’d lived through. No one could.

Fredrick shoved a flask at him. “Shall we drink to no longer being young then?”

He eyed his foe warily and slowly put the flask to his lips. At the first touch he knew. Laudanum.

“We both enjoy the same tastes, do we not?” Fredrick’s words taunted him and he didn’t care.

“There are many pleasures a man can enjoy,” he said, and smiled at Edith.

Fredrick laughed. “I had heard you’d been making up your lost years. Quite a favorite with the ladies.” His smile died like a flame with no oxygen. “Or is it you were trying to purge your desire for my ward given her father forbade a match? I’m not one to go back on her father’s wishes, so I warn you…stay away from Hestia.”

Anger surged deep in his gut. “Your ward?” His hands began to curl into fists ready to hit out as soon as Fredrick said her name. “Have no fear, I have no desires on your…ward. Marriage is not in my immediate future.”

“She is my responsibility. I inherited my title and estate before she married, so she becomes my ward.”

“She did not mention that when we talked. She’s twenty and quite independent. I hardly think she needs a guardian.”

“She’s a woman. They all need…protection.” Fredrick walked to where Edith still sat on the daybed behind him. “They are such delicate creatures.” He ran a finger down her cheek. “For instance, my ward needs protection from men with dishonorable intentions”—he turned to look at Alex—“or from men undeserving of her. I’m sure you’d agree.”

Alex raised his fist but Stephen placed a hand on Alex’s shoulder and whispered, “He’s not worth it, my friend.” Speaking up, Stephen said, “Lady Hestia will be in mourning for the next twelve months on her estate, and is in no danger from any man.”

Fredrick’s snakelike smile was back. “So true.” He moved away from Edith, bumping Alex’s shoulder as he went past. “I just wanted to make my position clear. I will guide whom Lady Hestia marries. I don’t like your chances.”

“Lady Hestia will marry whom she wishes. She’s made that very clear by the fact she has declined many offers already.” Stephen’s fingers dug into his shoulder. The idea of Hestia being forced to marry against her will made him want to strangle the life from Fredrick’s rotting but living body.

“That’s because she has not had a man present to guide her, merely an old spinster who is not the best influence. That situation will soon change.”

Alex made to take a step toward Fredrick and Stephen’s hand strained to hold him back. Instead he struggled to hold his tongue. “And you think you know what’s best for her. You hardly know her?”

“Agreed. However, I intend to help her select a husband since she is in mourning and cannot attend functions. I’m sure we will know each other very well, very soon.”

Don’t react. Don’t react.

He wanted to brag that Hestia would be free of him and that they both knew what Fredrick had done and was trying to do. But he couldn’t. They still clung to an advantage.

Suddenly Edith’s arm wrapped around his waist. “Your Grace, are you going to stand talking all night or shall we move on to something more pleasurable upstairs?”

He pulled Edith into his arms and kissed her passionately. He’d do anything to make Fredrick think he was not interested in Hestia and had forgotten her. The kiss ended and he said, “Quite right, my Venus.” He looked at Stephen. “Shall we take our private party upstairs?”

“And you think my way of life is perverse.”

“Just dangerous and damaging to those you peddle your cargo to,” he replied as Stephen led the ladies upstairs.

Fredrick put his hand on Alex’s chest as he made to move past him. “I’ll be upping my trade. Just think what doors will open for an earl. You might not wish to trade with the Turks, but I have no qualms.”

Alex looked at Fredrick’s hand and his enemy had the sense to remove it. “You might now have a title, but you’ll never be a gentleman.”

“Ironic, isn’t it, that I can remember a time years ago when no one would have recognized you as the son of a duke. I also know what depravity you succumbed to. What would our little Hestia think of her white knight if she knew you’d—”

“Say another word and I’ll end you,” Alex said, cutting in. “Say anything to Lady Hestia and I’ll make sure they are the last words you ever speak.”

“Now who’s the gentleman?” With that, Fredrick turned and, laughing, walked into the card room.

Alex was shaking. Anger burned in his gut along with the accompanying fear. Fear that Hestia would suddenly see him for who he really was—a man so deeply flawed it was a wonder he functioned at all. Sometimes he thought the laudanum prescribed by Mr. Foxhall, the ship’s surgeon, was the only thing that kept him sane.

He followed Stephen upstairs and hoped Fredrick didn’t stay too long. He didn’t want to get caught up in Stephen’s love play. He had too much to do at home.

If Fredrick believed Hestia had not dashed to London for help, and that Alex was not suspicious about Jonathan’s death, then they might find it easier to slip away.

What was worrying Alex was that Fredrick would not have proclaimed Hestia’s father dead if he had not already started looking, or even found, her father. Time was not their friend, and while it would be wise to put off leaving London for a few days, he could not afford the luxury.

No sooner had he followed the ladies and Stephen into the room than Stephen shut the door and said in a low voice, “What’s this all about? I know you’re not here for my pleasure or your own.”

“True, I prefer my pleasures male free.” He leaned close to whisper, “I need your help.”

“With Fredrick Cary? You don’t need me to deal with the likes of him.”

“With the new Earl of Pembroke?”

Stephen’s eyes widened. “Fredrick has inherited?”

“Are you gentlemen going to talk all night?” the redhead asked Stephen with a perfect pout on her lips.

“His Grace and I are going to watch. Why don’t you and Edith entertain us for a while.”

She shrugged and turned to Edith, who simply smiled and slipped her transparent robe from her shoulders before clambering onto the bed.

As the men settled in to watch the sensual play, Stephen asked, “I’m not sure why you’ve come to me?”

“The Earl of Pembroke’s death is not all that it seems. I’m worried what Fredrick will do next.”

“Is Lady Hestia not coping? She’s not too distressed?” Stephen asked. “She’s young to be left on her own without a male to guide her.”

“She has her aunt, Pembroke’s sister. Considering the circumstances, she’s coping remarkably well.”

“I suspect she’s a strong miss. She seems to have bounced back from her ordeal at the hands of your nemesis Murad rather well. I’ve always found it difficult to understand why some man hasn’t proposed.” He was silent for a moment before continuing. “I suspect the Welsh heritage and the scandal of her capture put some men off, but she is a beauty. And I’ve heard she has a large dowry too. We men are strange creatures.”

For some reason he wanted to rush and defend Hestia from his friend’s crass comments, but deep down he knew them to be true. Society was unforgiving.

“I believe Lady Hestia has had several proposals but has declined every one. Unfortunately, as it turns out.”

Stephen gave him a wide smile. “She’d make you a fine duchess, if you ask me. I wager she’d not decline your suit.”

“That’s hardly a compliment. Not many women would turn down a proposal from a duke.”

Stephen laughed. “She’s not interested in the title—or the money.”

He had no reply to that statement because he knew it to be correct. “Why don’t you offer for her? You always said you’d marry for your convenience.”

“She would not have me. She only has eyes for you. Everyone knows it, including you.” Stephen studied him. “I don’t need my wife to be madly in love with me, but I object to her being madly in love with someone else.”

Why did her adoration unsettle him? Alex knew why. He didn’t deserve it. Perfection was an unattainable dream, especially for him. Time to change the topic of conversation.

“Let’s leave the delectable Lady Hestia out of this. My problem is her father. I don’t think the earl is really dead. I believe Fredrick Cary brought a body home but it is not the earl.”

Stephen’s eyes widened and he leaned close, keeping his voice low. “A ruse to get his hands on the title and estates?”

His friend also understood Fredrick’s driving need to be accepted, to rise above his station. Fredrick lived on the edges of society and longed to enter the realm of the privileged and wealthy. Becoming the earl opened doors that currently were closed to him because some in society knew how he made his money. Alex wasn’t sure the title would be enough to overlook Fredrick’s trade in opium.

“If he wants to enter the gilded doors then he’d best stop his trade.”

During Alex’s first years home, before his father died, Stephen had on several occasions found Alex in a sorry state in London’s East End and pulled Alex’s arse home from the den of iniquity he’d stumbled into. Fredrick was usually there too, if not partaking, then supplying the brothel with the finest opium.

“That is what I’m worried about. He has the title; what else is he up to? Lady Hestia has a large dowry and is now unprotected. He’s a clever bastard. The body was too badly decomposed to know who it was, but there was no signet ring or locket.”

“What are you going to do? If the earl’s not dead yet, he soon will be. Fredrick can’t let him return.”

“I intend to sail to the Mediterranean to warn his lordship before Fredrick has him killed for real.”

“And you want me to come along?” Stephen finished on a smile before he had to even ask.

“I need someone I can trust. Someone who has a large fleet of well-armed ships.”

“When Fredrick learns you’re gone he’ll send men after you.”

“Agreed. Jacob will ensure we have the right crew.” Jacob was his sergeant at arms from his military days. The war with the Turks had forged a strong bond between the men. Now he worked as Alex’s captain on the Angelica.

“We also have a plan to persuade Fredrick neither of us have left England. It should take him a while to work out we have left, giving us the precious time we need to find the earl before his men do.”

Stephen thought for a moment. “Getting them back into England alive will take a great deal of skill and luck.”

“I didn’t have the heart to tell Hestia and her aunt that finding her father wasn’t the end of the matter. That’s all they think I have to do.”

Stephen for once wasn’t even interested in the ladies on the bed, who were putting on quite the show.

Alex added, “Although my ship, the Angelica, is well armed, I’m worried about being outgunned by whomever Fredrick sends after us should we find her father first. I’m sure he knows many of the pirates operating in the Mediterranean, or else his trade wouldn’t be so regular.”

“Ah, you want me to send my fleet with you. It’s in harbor at Portsmouth.”

That’s where he would rendezvous with the Angelica.

“We would not need nor want you to set sail for a few weeks at least. Unfortunately we have to find her father first. I shall pay you, of course.”

“Of course you’ll pay. You can start by paying for tonight.” He winked and nodded toward the ladies on the bed.

Alex glanced at them and for a moment got lost in the beautiful bodies entwined on the bed. He was not averse to bedding several women simultaneously, but after his ordeal in Turkey he could not abide another male being in the room at the same time.

“Thank you, Stephen. I understand what an imposition this is. No one must learn of our plans. I want to be ready to leave London in the morning. Shall we use the next hour to organize where we should meet? I’m sorry if I’m keeping you from your pleasures.”

“You know I’ve never liked Fredrick or the trade he indulges in. Exposing his dishonorable behavior is all the thanks I need.”

Alex nodded, not willing to discuss Fredrick’s trade. He knew the damage opium could do, but he also knew the release it could offer. His use was prescribed by Foxhall and only involved a dash of laudanum every now and then. He was always in control now; never again would he come under its thrall. He had weeks where he did not need any laudanum, but when the darkness came, it was the only thing to keep the nightmares at bay. Foxhall prescribed it to help him sleep, and it worked.

He shook his head to clear it. “I suggest you meet me in Mallorca around the end of September. If I’m not there within three weeks I’m likely not coming and Fredrick has won.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll ensure he doesn’t live to enjoy his title.”

“Don’t do anything that could ruin you,” Alex warned.

“There are many ways to kill a man like Fredrick that do not involve me directly. He has many enemies in his line of business.”

That was the one thing Alex had never done—trade in opium. He had never been the perfect son his father wanted, but at least his father died without knowing the depths he’d sunk to.

He might like to use laudanum every now and then, but he knew what becoming enthralled in the sweet release could do. A man would do anything to get his hands on opium—anything! He knew what he’d once sold to get more of the drug and it had cost him his soul.

“I will wait for you. Even come looking for you if I have to.” Stephen looked longingly at the bed. “Come, let’s enjoy what may be your last night in London. It’s hard to remain unmoved by the beauties cavorting so.”

“You stay and enjoy the ladies. I’m not really in the mood if I’m honest. I’m worried about Hestia and all I have to organize to get us safely out of England.”

“Us. You’re taking her with you?”

The shock in Stephen’s voice grated. “What else am I to do? Fredrick can kill her at any time. Did I not mention that she inherits the money? Fredrick gets a title and the estate.”

“Christ. If you are worried, let me guess. If she dies he gets the money too?”

Alex nodded. “She’s safest with me.”

“She’s safer with you as her husband. It takes away Fredrick’s incentive for her to die.”

Stephen’s words jolted him. He was right

How did a man like him offer marriage to a woman of such goodness? Would he corrupt Hestia and bring her down to his level? He could not bear that. “I’m not looking for a wife.”

Stephen’s smile fled along with his gaiety. “We will both have to marry someday.”

“Not I. I have two brothers. Besides, I see no point. I’ve never fathered a child. I’m not sure I can.” While he had been careful with his many conquests, a man couldn’t be childless, not when he’d slept with the same woman for almost two years. He’d had a woman in Turkey while he was held captive.

Stephen looked at the women on the bed. “I try to be careful; the ladies I spend time with are well versed on how to protect themselves from getting with child. Perhaps both of us have merely been lucky.”

“I was in no condition to be careful in Turkey and I was with Tulay. Neither of us were careful but there was no child.”

“It could have been her.”

Alex swallowed hard. “The odds are not good. Anyway it does not matter. I don’t wish to ever marry.”

Stephen did not offer any opinion. He merely shrugged. “It is none of my business.”

Alex turned the conversation back to safer ground. “I wish I could simply challenge Fredrick to a duel, but if I kill him I’ll be exiled, and then who will help Lady Hestia? Better if we simply expose him for the conniving bastard he is.”

“I’m not sure what the earl will do when he hears what Fredrick has been up to. Hestia’s father is without issue. Fredrick is last in the Cary line.”

“True.” Alex drank his glass of brandy and tried to ignore the sounds emanating from the bed. “I shall leave you to your pleasure. Shall I take Edith with me or…?”

Stephen stood and began to remove his jacket. “No. I feel invigorated now that we have a plan to squash Fredrick. In fact, I’m going to sail with my fleet and be there when we ruin the bastard.”

Alex stopped at the door. “No one must know. Stephen, the longer we fool Fredrick the better. It’s not only the earl I’m worried about, it’s Hestia.”

“Of course.”

“Thank you.”

Stephen merely grinned and began disrobing as Alex slipped out of the door.