“We meet again, Neville.”
There was no need for Daniel to turn his head to recognize that voice. Starkly. “What a coincidence.”
“No such thing,” Starkly said. “I say, is that a brandy?”
Daniel didn’t bother answering that question with words but took another sip.
“I’d kill for one of those instead of all this bubbly stuff that everyone else is so fond of.” Stopping a passing footman, Starkly made his request. He then turned his attention back to Daniel. “So . . . come to wallow in a bit of self-pity, have you?”
“You must be in your cups, Starkly. You’re making no sense.”
“Ha! As if Grover isn’t about to marry Lady Nuit, otherwise known as the lovely Lady Rebecca that you were chasing after at the Kingsborough Ball. At least I can find comfort in knowing I wasn’t the only one who lost her to that weathered old toad.”
“As if you ever stood a chance,” Daniel muttered.
“No, I suppose not,” Starkly said, his voice taking on a bitterness that Daniel had never heard from him before. “It’s difficult to compete with any man who’s as rich as Croesus.
“Especially,” Starkly continued, “when he promises to depart this earth at any given moment and leave everything to her.”
“She’s not mercenary, if that’s what you’re implying,” Daniel said, not bothering to glance in Starkly’s direction.
Starkly chuckled. “No, I suppose not.” His voice was heavy with sarcasm. He patted Daniel on the shoulder. “Never mind, though. There are plenty of other ladies present this evening. I’ll see if one of them might be willing to take a walk with me in the garden.”
Once he’d gone, Daniel pulled out his fob watch. Twenty minutes to ten. He still had a bit of time to spare but decided to stay put. The last thing he needed right now was to get stuck in that crowd. Downing the remainder of his drink, he stepped back out into the hallway instead and began heading toward the back of the house.
“Well, well, well,” a smooth voice said. “What a pleasure it is to find you here.”
Stopping in his tracks, Daniel peered into the murky darkness of an alcove to find Lady Vernon seductively reclining on a window seat. She was one of the more notorious widows, known for her sexual appetites, which were so ravenous that even Daniel had found her exhausting at times. There was something predatory about her this evening that quickly put him on edge. He could not afford this sort of distraction right now and certainly didn’t wish for Rebecca to find him in her company.
“Thank you, my lady, but I have a pressing matter to attend to. If you’ll excuse me.”
“Surely it can wait five minutes,” she said, stopping him again with her words. “After all, it’s not as if it will take much longer than that for us to do what I have in mind.”
“In case you are not aware, we are in the Duke of Grover’s home.” He had to get away from her, and the faster the better.
Lady Vernon chuckled. “As if such an inconvenience has stopped either of us before.” Rising, she sauntered toward him, her h*ps swaying gently beneath the folds of her gown. “May I remind you of the pleasure we once shared behind a Chinese screen at the Thakerry Ball? Or how about at the opera when we—”
“That’s quite enough,” Daniel told her as he glanced around. “Someone might hear you.”
When he looked back at her, he saw that she’d stepped closer. She leaned toward him, so close that their lips almost touched. Daniel tried to step away, but the lady latched onto his arm. “Have you abandoned your rakish tendencies completely then?” she asked. “I confess that I did hear a rumor, but I failed to believe it.” One of her hands came up to caress his cheek.
“Don’t,” he ground out.
“Are you sure I can’t entice you? We used to have such fun together, if you recall.”
Do I ever?
Now was not the time to contemplate his past liaisons. He had to get rid of her before Rebecca found him in her company. “Meet me outside in the garden in half an hour and I’ll show you that I have not forgotten how to please you.”
In a swift move that Daniel had not anticipated, Lady Vernon’s lips met his, hard and demanding. He’d never felt anything but lust for the woman, but even that was no longer the case. Instead, she left him cold and with a feeling of disgust not only for her but for himself as well. There was only one lady who could stir his blood these days, and to his horror, he found her glaring back at him as Lady Vernon sashayed away. “I can explain,” he whispered when Rebecca was close enough to hear.
“Later.” The clipped word was like a bucket of ice water dumped on his head. The last time he’d seen Rebecca, he’d kissed her. It had been magnificent, and now this. He longed to tell her that Lady Vernon meant nothing to him and that she had kissed him, not the other way around. But Rebecca was right—they had to hurry if they were to accomplish their goal. An explanation would have to wait until later.
Side by side, they continued toward the servants’ stairs, where they found Laura waiting. “The staff is busy this evening, so as long as you move quickly, I doubt that any of them will raise an eyebrow,” Laura said as she handed Rebecca a brown woolen cloak and then held out a satchel for Daniel to carry. “I’ve packed a few necessities—clothes in particular—along with your watercolors and the other items we discussed. As agreed, I will remain behind in case further distraction will be required. That is of course unless your ladyship has changed her mind and would rather I accompany you.” Laura’s expression was stern. Had she perhaps noticed her mistress’s displeasure with Daniel? He suspected that she must have, and he found himself holding his breath while he waited for Rebecca to answer. She was hesitating, a clear indication that her trust in him had just been diminished. By how much, he dared not even guess.
“No,” Rebecca finally said as she wrapped the cloak around her shoulders and pulled the hood over her head. “We cannot change the plan. It’s far too risky.”
“Very well then.” Laura met Daniel’s gaze with flint in her eyes. “Just promise me that you’ll take good care of her.”
“I’ll guard her with my life,” he told her.
Laura didn’t smile but nodded quickly before hurrying away. Daniel pulled open the stairwell door and ushered Rebecca inside, where they almost collided with a footman who was carrying a tray of canapés up from the kitchen. “Watch where you’re going,” he said, recovering from a near stumble. With his attention riveted upon the tray and its contents, he paid no heed to who the people were who had almost made him fall and just continued past them, muttering an oath. Daniel breathed a sigh of relief.
Below stairs, everything was in upheaval. If Daniel hadn’t known better, he would have suspected that a war was going on, with servants forming troops and carrying out orders issued to them by a very pompous-looking man and a woman who came close to Lady Grifton in austerity. These were undoubtedly the first and second in command, otherwise known as the butler and the housekeeper.
Looking about in search of the exit, Daniel gave Rebecca’s hand a hard tug. The last thing he needed now was to be questioned by either of these two people. But of course, that was too much to ask for, and when he turned back around, he found the butler staring down his nose at him. “I believe you must have gone astray,” he said. “This is the kitchen.”
“I am well aware of that,” Daniel replied with an edge of arrogance to match. “Perhaps you’d care to tell us how to get out of here.”
“May I suggest going back the way you came? The ball is, after all, upstairs.”
Daniel raised an eyebrow. Did the man think him an idiot, or was he just particularly fond of stating the obvious? Time to make his excuses. “Right you are. However, I am hoping to leave here in the company of this lady.” He lowered his voice to a whisper and leaned toward the butler. “She has just now agreed to become my mistress, you see, and since her reputation is of the more questionable variety, I thought it best if we tried to leave without causing a stir. However, if you think it would be better for me to drag her through the ballroom instead, then—”
“Down that corridor and to your left,” the butler said, looking slightly flustered.
With no intention of lingering for another second, Daniel pulled Rebecca after him at a brisk pace, arriving quickly in the street behind Grover House, where a groomsman awaited with a phaeton.
“Wouldn’t a landau have been better suited?” Rebecca asked a short while later as they drove past Regent’s Park and out of London.
Daniel whipped the reins, urging the horses into a gallop. “This is faster.” His pride stopped him from admitting that it was also the only carriage he owned. “It’s a Roberts, just so you know.”
“I’m guessing that’s a good thing?”
“It’s a very good thing in this case, since they manufacture the best carriages in England. I’m surprised you don’t know them—they’re based in Moxley.”
“A town that I’ve seen very little of,” she said, reminding him of everything she’d had to endure under the guardianship of her aunt and uncle. If an opportunity for him to right his wrongs had ever presented itself, then this was it.
“No matter. The point is that I’ve raced many opponents in this vehicle without losing once. I’ve every confidence that we’ll make it to Scotland without impediment from either the Griftons or from Grover.”
Their conversation died and Daniel gave his attention to the horses. He could tell that Rebecca was piqued with him, for there was a tenseness about her posture, forcing him to wonder if she might be regretting her decision to run away with him. That notion made it even more important that he clarify the situation she’d witnessed between himself and Lady Vernon, but now was not the time for such a serious discussion, no matter how much he hated the uncomfortable silence that had descended upon them.
It was midnight before Daniel dared to stop for a break, but he’d exhausted the horses by pushing them past the twenty-mile limit and had no choice but to change them. “Do you think they’ll catch up with us?” Rebecca asked as he handed her down from the carriage at one of the many posting inns along the North Road.
“I doubt it.” There was no question as to who they referred to. If the duke was in pursuit, the Griftons would be with him. “It would have taken at least ten minutes before your absence became known, and even then the duke would not have been able to leave his guests immediately without causing a stir. The phaeton’s also faster than whatever vehicle he chooses—a landau, I suspect—affording us at least a good half hour’s advantage.”
Rebecca nodded and said no more while a groom exchanged the horses for fresh ones. “Would you like me to add some more oil to your lanterns?” he asked Daniel.