To Desire a Wicked Duke (Courtship Wars)

“To scare you away. Jolly dint want you snooping around. If you thought there was a ghost, you might leave.”

“Who is Jolly?”

“Joll

y Banks. ’E paid me a shilling to ’aunt the castle.” Suddenly Ned clamped his lips shut, as if realizing he had betrayed a confidence. When Tess asked why Jolly would have wanted her to leave, Ned’s grimy features turned shuttered. “I canna say more.”

Ian spoke up then. “How did you gain entrance to the castle? By way of our cave and tunnel?”

Ned started, as if having forgotten there was anyone but Tess with him in the room. Surveying Ian warily, he nodded. “Aye. The tunnel leads to the tower, and from there ye can reach the roof.”

Tess resumed leading the conversation in her gentle tone. “Who else knows about the cave entrance, Ned?”

“I dunno, Mum. Only Jolly’s crew, I guess. His great-grandda’ was head groundskeeper for the castle at one time.”

“It worries me that any stranger could just break into our home, intent on doing us harm.”

Ned’s expression grew dismayed. “I would ne’er ’ave ’armed you, Mum, I swear.…”

Tess smiled. “I believe you, Ned. Truly. But that doesn’t mean that Jolly feels the same way toward us. After all, he asked you to drive us away.”

At her observation, Ned looked intensely remorseful and eventually allowed Tess to cajole more of the story from him—specifically that at the beginning of the summer, Jolly Banks had paid him to “haunt” the castle to scare the servants enough that they would keep away from the cave below the bluff, and then to double his efforts once the new duke and duchess arrived.

When Ian interrupted once more to ask if the three chests in the cave belonged to Banks, Ned’s brow furrowed as he tried to recall. “Aye, Jolly told me to guard those chests well.”

From Ned’s wandering tale, they concluded that a ring of thieves led by Banks had used the old smugglers’ hideout to store their stolen goods. Ned as much as confessed that he was connected to the thefts, although the exact role he had played was less clear.

He had finished the last crumbs of bread and cheese when he sank back wearily against the pillows. “I canna tell ye more, Mum, or Jolly will kill me.”

Tess cast a worried glance at Ian but promptly ended the discussion. “Forgive me, Ned. I should not have pressed when you need to rest. You look exhausted.”

“Thankee, Mum, for the food,” Ned offered.

“You are quite welcome. Do you want more?”

“Could I p’raps ’ave some ale? I’m that parched, I am.”

“Certainly you may have some ale. I should have thought of it.”

Taking up the empty plate and bowl, she rose just as a tap sounded on the door.

An elderly man carrying a medical bag was admitted and bowed first to Ian, then to Tess. “Your graces, I came as soon as I could. How may I be of assistance?”

After assuring Ned that the doctor was only there to help, Tess followed Ian from the room so her patient could be examined. In the corridor, she handed over the empty dishes to Fletcher and asked that he fetch a pint of ale for Ned.

“It is beyond appalling,” she muttered to Ian when they were alone, “that Ned should be homeless and dressed in rags. He was a soldier like Richard. We owe men like him more than we can ever repay. And to think those thieves may have drawn him into their crimes.… Do you believe Ned is a criminal?” she asked Ian worriedly.

“We don’t have enough details yet,” he replied. “We will have to question him further in the morning to find out more about Banks and his gang of thieves.”

Tess nodded with reluctance. “I suppose so, but please remember, kindness will go much farther than threats.”

His mouth curved wryly. “I wouldn’t dare threaten him, love. Not with you standing guard over him like a mother tigress.”

She gave him a faint smile, but then paced the corridor for some twenty minutes until the doctor emerged from the room to give his report.

“The stump of his arm is raw and inflamed, but not completely putrid. I washed and bandaged the wound and administered a sleeping draught. He should be out until morning at the very least.”

It was only the doctor’s assurance that convinced Tess to leave Ned to sleep. Ian swore the doctor to secrecy and made certain the door was locked with a footman standing guard outside.