Feeling somewhat at a loss at having to wait another day to speak to Estelle, Vane decided to use the time productively. Having received a note to call on Lord Farleigh, he went there first.
Bamfield escorted him into the study where Farleigh sat in a wingback chair reading a book. The hard green cover looked similar to the book Wickett was reading.
“Don’t tell me you’re reading Nocturnal Visit, too,” Vane said with amusement. “Are gothic novels not for ladies? Have you not had enough of dark secrets at the manor and mysterious goings-on in asylums?”
“Trust me. No one could pen a novel as suspenseful as the events that occurred at Everleigh.” Farleigh turned the book over and glanced at the spine. “But how did you know?”
“Know what?”
“That the book is entitled Nocturnal Visit.”
A cold shiver passed through Vane. “Please tell me you’re joking. Has Wickett spoken to you?”
Farleigh frowned. “Your coachman? Why would he seek my counsel?”
“Lady Cornell gave Wickett a copy of that book in order to convey a message,” Vane admitted. “The title is not a coincidence, and my man enjoys jokes at my expense.”
He was beginning to wonder if Lady Cornell would ever overcome her obsession. She had pestered him long before he left for Italy. Two years had not cooled her ardour. Still she pressed her advances.
“That explains it.” With his mouth curled i
nto a mischievous grin, Farleigh flipped to a page. “‘Knowing of your interest in exploration and that you’re a man who admires courage, perhaps we might have a little adventure of our own.’” Farleigh chuckled. “The words are Lady Cornell’s, not mine.”
“And here, I thought you held me in the highest regard.”
“Oh, I do. Most men would struggle to resist such a blatant means of seduction. Indeed, you wouldn’t believe the risks the woman took to find her way into your bed.”
“Into my bed?”
Farleigh spoke as though the event had already occurred.
“Lady Cornell had her maid deliver this last night.” Farleigh gestured to the book. “Sometime around midnight, Rose heard a noise coming from the bedchamber you were using.”
A sense of dread took hold.
Surely Lady Cornell wasn’t bold enough to force her way into the house. “Please tell me someone had left the window open, and that was the source of the disturbance.”
“If only that were true. Imagine my shock when I crept into the room to find Lady Cornell naked in your bed. In the dark, the daft dolt thought I was you. Suffice to say, her bedroom banter leaves a lot to be desired.”
God damn.
Vane covered his mouth with his hand. Had he heard this tale in his club he would have found the incident highly amusing. But he needed to do something about the lady’s obsessive nature, and soon.
“What I would like to know is how the hell she got in here.”
“That is a puzzle I am determined to solve,” Farleigh said, waving for Vane to sit in the chair opposite. “Although I am told her maid once had a dalliance with my footman.”
Vane declined the offer of a seat. “I’m afraid I can’t stay. I have an errand to run across town.” He would instruct Mr Joseph to have a man watch Lady Cornell until such a time as he could deal with the matter. “I trust Lady Cornell’s failed attempt at seduction is the reason you asked to see me.”
Farleigh nodded though his expression turned grave. “The lady’s desperation is bordering on dangerous. Cornell has already proved to be a man of cunning and deception. Just because you could beat him in the ring or put a ball in his chest from two hundred yards, doesn’t mean the man is not to be feared. And you know how besotted he is with his wife.”
Vane dragged his hand down his face and sighed. “I shall deal with it. This business with Miss Darcy demands my utmost attention. Consequently, I have not had the opportunity to decide what to do with Cornell.”
“As much as I believe Miss Darcy should be your priority, you must make a decision, and quickly. Cornell has already hurt one woman you love. What if he learns the truth about Miss Darcy?”
“He won’t.” There was every chance Vane would arrive at the apothecary shop to discover she’d left on the late-night coach. “Besides, Miss Darcy is no wallflower, and is more than capable of taking care of herself.”
A frisson of doubt crept into his mind. Just because she’d lived with smugglers, did not make her an expert in human nature. She believed Mr Hungerford’s intentions were honest. And Vane had been so interested in Estelle’s story that he had told her next to nothing about what a blackguard Cornell turned out to be.