CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Leopold staggered as a small pair of arms wrapped around his legs and prevented him from moving forward. He’d had a long and frustrating night and hadn’t noticed Edwin barreling across the room toward him. He glanced down at the boy and his heart skipped a beat. He could not get used to such greetings, but he did enjoy Edwin’s enthusiastic displays of affection.
Reluctantly, he pried Edwin’s arms from his legs. “Good morning, Your Grace. How are you this morning?”
“Good.” He replied excitedly. “I want to show you my generals.” Edwin grabbed his hand and drew him further into his playroom. Leopold looked around, spied Mercy smiling and Lady Venables scowling, and let go of the boy’s hand before they reached their destination.
“Good morning, Your Grace. Lady Venables,” he said quickly.
Mercy approached. “What happened last night? I’ve been worried sick.”
Leopold checked that the boy was far enough away to not overhear them. “The bastard climbed the walls of the abbey. I’d like to say we almost caught him but I’d be lying. He’s a phantom.”
Mercy wilted against him, while her sister gasped. Thankfully, Lady Venables turned her attention to her nephew and fussed with him as Leopold carefully embraced Mercy to calm her down. “It will be all right. We know now what he is capable of and just how determined he is to reach you both.”
Mercy burrowed her face against his chest. “I was so scared for you all alone out there.”
He held her closer, keeping one eye on Lady Venables and Edwin. “For me? Why? I was hardly alone. The whole damn village was out there.”
“You know why,” Mercy whispered. “Don’t make me say it where my sister can hear. She will screech the building down and likely say something very cutting.”
Leopold’s heart raced at Mercy’s protectiveness. He had done nothing to deserve it. Reluctantly, he stepped away from her. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t you?” Mercy wiped at her eyes and he was astounded that she’d been worried enough for tears. “Do you really have no idea what you’ve become to me?”
He held up his hands in supplication. “Stop. It’s just the stress you’ve been under. When the danger has passed you will see you were mistaken and will regret your words.”
Mercy crossed her arms over her chest. “I know my own heart. I know what I want for my life.”
“So do I.” He wanted Mercy and Edwin in his life. “Wishing for the best has never made it happen.”
She shook her head. “This time can be different. Will be different, if I have my way.”
Mercy’s jaw had clenched stubbornly and he marveled at her determination. They were all wrong for each other, despite the attraction.
He shook off the sadness that gripped him. There were more important things to talk about right now. “In light of the danger this man poses, I want you to remain in one part of the abbey only during the day. It is far easier to guard you that way. I have organized a rejuvenation of the gardens on the east side of the abbey. We will have servants in the grounds on that side and no one will get past them during the day.”
“What about inside the abbey? It’s a vast space.”
Leopold smiled and caught up her hand. “Taken care of already. Come with me.”
He led her toward the door of an adjoining chamber and opened it wide. Wilcox and the housekeeper were in the next room, polishing the already perfect silver contained within.
Leopold nodded to them and closed the door again. He drew her to the other door next and opened it wide. Allen and his boys were stationed inside the next smaller room, talking quietly to each other as the boys bent their heads over books.
Allen glanced up. “Everything all right, Mr. Randall?”
“Everything is fine.”
Allen gave a tight smile and then ignored them.
Satisfied with the arrangements, Leopold closed the door again and turned to Mercy. She was frowning. “What bothers you?”
She tipped her head to draw him away from the door. Leopold followed her.
She clenched her hands together. “What do you know of Allen?”
“What do you mean?”
Mercy scowled. “You are being evasive again. Don’t do that.”
“Beg your pardon, Your Grace.”
“Don’t do that again either.”
Leopold sighed. He was too tired to fence with Mercy today. “I see I cannot win today.”
Mercy’s eyebrow rose. “Are we engaged in a battle?”
“Since the day we met. You would know everything that I am? I am not used to sharing my thoughts so freely.”
“Then you will need to change.” She shook her head. “Tell me what you know about Allen.”
Leopold hid a grin. She was the most determined woman he had ever met and he loved her for it. “Allen is good with horses.”
Her glance turned sullen. “Then why would you bring him into the abbey?”
“Because I trust him.”
“Why?”
“I knew him when I was a boy. He and my father were on friendly terms.”
Mercy’s frown grew. “Then he lived in the district before? He never mentioned that he was from the district when he interviewed with Wilcox.”
Had Allen lived close to the abbey before? Leopold couldn’t remember precisely where he might have lived, and he doubted that Wilcox had actually interviewed Allen. The man wasn’t even on the estate books to be paid each quarter day. Leopold would have to see if he could change that when this was over.
He stroked his hand down Mercy’s arm to reassure her. “I remember him visiting with us infrequently. He was on good terms with my mother, too.”
Mercy set her hands to her hips. “I still find it odd that a groom should be stationed so close to us. There are other servants in the abbey that have served the family for far longer than Allen.”
But none that Leopold could trust to be completely loyal and place themselves between the duke and danger. He was uncertain how to phrase that without revealing the facts around his illegitimate birth.
“Don’t even think of lying to me again. I simply won’t stand for it, Leopold.”
Leopold ground his teeth. Damn this was awkward. “I trust Allen because he has good reason to help me and your son. That will have to be enough to satisfy you, Your Grace.”
Mercy stepped close, her hand landing on his chest, fingers spread wide. Leopold quaked as she pushed at him. “Just be aware that every time you lie to me, or withhold your confidences from me, that you give me pain.”
Leopold licked his lips. “Some secrets cannot be shared without causing pain.”
“I’m stronger than you think, Leopold. There is nothing you cannot tell me that I do not want to hear from your lips. When will you believe that I am not your enemy?”
But she was. She was the embodiment of everything he had wanted and lost. She roused in him such feelings of possessiveness that he struggled to hide how he felt. She had come to mean the world to him and he could never tell her the truth. She would hate him for his part in Edwin’s making and he was not prepared for that day to come just yet.
Her hands slid around his chest, under his coat. “Let go of your fears and tell me.”
Leopold swallowed. “There is nothing to tell.”
“Liar.” Mercy drew back.
What could he say to that? Every word he’d spoken to her was calculated to spare her discomfort, pain, and embarrassment. He couldn’t admit to the truth.
“I’m not done with you, Leopold Randall. I shall never be.”
She turned away toward her son and Leopold was profoundly grateful. If she’d pushed much harder against his resolve he would have ruined what little happiness he had. He’d been moments away from confessing everything. He wiped his hands over his face as weariness tugged at his senses. He stumbled, fell, into a nearby chair and set his head to the plush back. He hadn’t slept properly in days and couldn’t afford to now. Not with the danger circling them. He watched Edwin at play, sure that the boy’s noise would keep his attention.
Edwin was a very lucky boy.
He was loved unconditionally.
~ * ~
“I’ll be right back,” Mercy whispered to Blythe as she eased Edwin’s head down onto the blanket.
Blythe stirred from her doze. “Where are you going?”
“I need to speak to Leopold.”
She glanced toward the playroom door. “Do you think he’s awake already?”
Mercy pushed a strand of hair behind her sister’s ear and smiled gently at her sleepy state. “I don’t know. He’s been so quiet. But I wanted to check on him, too.”
Although Blythe frowned, she didn’t prevent Mercy from leaving. Mercy quietly crossed the room and slipped into the play room where Leopold had fallen asleep earlier. He lay exactly as she had left him, sprawled across the narrow settee that was far too small for his large body. She’d been half afraid he’d tumble off while he slept.
She smiled at how still he was. Just like Edwin. He didn’t twitch when she passed him to sit on a nearby chair. He didn’t snore at all. But Mercy was aware of every breath he took, the rise and fall of his wide chest, the look of peace about him as exhaustion held him in a tight grip. How long had it been since he’d slept a full night?
Part of his exhaustion was her fault and, although she smiled at the memory of sharing a bed with him, she did feel a little guilty. He needed someone to look after him as much as she needed the same. She would do better by him as soon as he agreed to their marriage.
She leaned back in her comfortable chair, prepared to wait for him to wake. Edwin would sleep a while yet, but Mercy had not liked to leave Leopold alone as if he was of no importance. He was in just as much danger as they. She should never have allowed Blythe to move them to the next chamber when Leopold had fallen asleep so suddenly two hours ago. They should have remained together while the two most important men in her life slept.
Leopold’s chest rose suddenly as he drew in a larger breath and his eyes opened. He sat up and looked around wildly. When his gaze settled on her, his breath hitched and he relaxed. “Is everything all right? Where is Edwin?”
She loved that his first thought was of their son. “Edwin is in the next room. We didn’t want him to wake you.”
He scowled and threw his legs over the side of the chaise to sit properly. “You should have woken me.”
“You needed the rest. How long has it been since you allowed someone to take care of you?”
“I have a valet for that.”
“Has there not been someone else? Your India mistress, perhaps?”
He wiped his hand over his face suddenly. “You should return to the boy. I’ll join you as soon as I’m awake enough.”
Mercy allowed him to avoid her question, although his habit of trying to spare her discomfort was unnecessary. She wasn’t a fool. He’d had other lovers before her. Luckily, she got the benefit of his extensive experience now and would keep it if she could. Hiding a smile, she played with the folds of her gown. “There is no rush.”
He rubbed at his face again, and then speared her with a hard glance. “Are you avoiding your sister?”
“No. It’s just when she is around I have to behave like a proper duchess. I cannot be myself with you as I’d like.”
Leopold sat back in his seat. “Please don’t say such things. I will be leaving the abbey when the danger to the boy has passed. I will likely need to travel to retrieve my siblings.”
Mercy’s chest tightened at the idea of him leaving them behind. “I like to travel and Edwin has never left the estate. He will enjoy the adventure with you.”
He shook his head violently. “I don’t know where I’m going and the boy is safer here.”
Mercy fell to her knees and crawled awkwardly across the floor until she knelt at Leopold’s feet. “I won’t let you toss us aside so easily.”
Leopold’s mouth opened, to deny her no doubt, but she pulled his head forward and sealed her lips to his before he could deny her feelings again. For a moment he resisted, but then his lips firmed and his tongue tangled with hers.
Mercy wrapped her arms around his shoulders and clung. He couldn’t leave her. Not when he made her feel like this; cherished, desired, loved.
He lifted her onto his lap suddenly so that she straddled his thighs. Mercy quaked at the sensation of being so close to him again. She wanted him like this every time they met, regardless of the circumstances.
His hand stroked her thigh under the gown and then closed over her bare bottom. Mercy moaned at the sensation and shuffled forward until she sat over his erection. They could make love like this if they were quick, if they were quiet, and swept away by the moment.
A door opened, and then crashed shut again.
Leopold threw Mercy off him as he slewed around to stare at the doors. She landed on the end of the chaise, rumbled, aroused, and utterly embarrassed. Blythe could have caught her and finally have a reason to call her scandalous. She covered her flaming cheeks. “Which door was that?”
“Allen’s.”
A servant had found them. “Oh, dear.”
“Don’t worry. Despite his assertion I’m not aggressive enough, I’ll kill Allen if he breathes a word of what he just saw to anyone.”
“You can’t do that. Let me speak to him.”
Leopold’s skin mottled a dark red. “If you so much as mention this catastrophe to my cousin I will put you across my knee and spank your arse until it’s as pink as your cheeks are now.”
Mercy flushed at the harsh words and at the threat of being spanked. And then her mind caught up with what Leopold had just said. “Cousin?”
“Damnation. I’m too tired for this.”
“Cousin,” she repeated as she righted her clothing and rose to face Leopold.
He nodded.
Leopold didn’t have any cousins that she knew of according to her copy of Debrett’s. “On which side of the family?”
“The worst side.” He sighed. “You won’t find a record of the connection or his place in the family. He’s an illegitimate son.”
Mercy stared at the door Allen had burst through. “Whose child was he?”
“Maybe we’ll kill each other.” Leopold tugged his fingers through his hair one more time. He looked up at her with a bleak expression. “Rejoice, Your Grace, Edwin has had more family about him than you ever realized. That is theoretically, but not legally, Edwin’s uncle. The old duke’s first born son, Charles Allen. His mother was a chamber maid here.”
Mercy’s brain caught up with Leopold’s words and then she sat down with a thump. The old duke’s son had been shoveling horse excrement in her stables for the past year. Why didn’t anyone in this dratted family tell her the truth without having to be tortured first?