Engaging the Enemy (The Wild Randalls 1)

“I believe I shall see your guests out, Your Grace. I know you like them but I’m afraid they both make me uneasy. Do excuse me for a moment while I ensure that they have gone. I’ll check on Edwin before I return to you.”

Mercy nodded, thinking of Anna’s remarks about how long she had known the Randall’s. Why would she pretend not to know the family if she were her friend? And the bracelet and her assertion that blackberry’s were her husbands favorite fruit. Mercy could not remember that about him.

She put her head into her hands as a door clicked shut. Why would Anna claim her husband would have confided in her about Leopold? Edwin had always discouraged Mercy’s invitations to Anna, which was why Mercy had gleefully resumed a close friendship after her husband had passed away. Yet Anna was not comfortable at Romsey Abbey for any length of time. She was not at all comfortable with her son, and was always trying to get Mercy to leave the estate for one reason or another.

A hand settled on her shoulder and squeezed.

Merc

y sighed heavily. “I’m so sorry Anna was rude to you, my love. If she cannot be at least civil to you I will ask her not to call again.”

Cold pressed against her temple. “You’ll not have to worry about that for long,” an unfamiliar voice whispered in her ear. “Now get to your feet, don’t you dare say another word, and come with me. I’ll not hesitate to put a hole in that pretty head of yours, duchess.”

Mercy lifted her gaze and caught her reflection in a mirror. She gasped. A large pistol barrel rested at her temple, a wild looking stranger stood at her back. “What do you want?”

He winked at her slowly, curled his arm about her waist and hefted her and the chair backward. “Everything that was taken from me. We’re going to sit quietly and wait for the duke to come back. And then, my dear duchess, Romsey will fall to those who deserve it.”

~ * ~

Once the carriage had gone and Wilcox had reported that all of Lady Barnet’s servants had been accounted for, Leopold went to check on Edwin and Lady Venables before returning to Mercy’s side. No matter how things went, her friends and family would dislike him. Once they all spotted the resemblance, Mercy would undoubtedly be slighted. He might have wealth enough to make him acceptable to some, but without a title he was far beneath her social circle.

He eased the door to the morning room open and caught sight of Edwin sitting at a small round table with his aunt. Edwin’s face was covered in sticky cream and Lady Venables was dabbing at it ineffectually. The sight made him smile. “Do you mind if I join you for a moment, my lady?”

“Could I stop you?”

“Perhaps, but I wanted a word with you. It’s about Lady Barnet.”

“What about her?”

Leopold eased into a chair. “Did you know that the lady was acquainted so well with my cousin?”

A frown spread over her face. “I did not. She befriended Mercy shortly after her marriage and I must confess I did not like her from the start.”

“Did you think her attachment insincere?”

Lady Venables expression grew grim. “She was always trying to get Mercy alone. She would offer her advice on how to deal with the duke and none of it was to his liking. She even lived here for a time, toward the end of Mercy’s pregnancy, but once the boy was born she wanted nothing at all to do with him. I thought she was more interested in Mercy’s husband, especially when his health began to decline. She was here on the day he died.”

Leopold didn’t like the sound of that one bit. Had his cousin and Lady Barnet been lovers up until his death? If so, then his cousin had had rocks for brains to have dabbled anywhere but beneath his own wife’s skirts. “Lady Barnet has a husband somewhere, correct?”

His companion scowled fiercely. “If you could call it a marriage, then yes, she is married. But Lord Barnet spends his time in London and, when not in parliament, is a great patron of the theatre. I cannot remember the last time he returned to the country with his wife. I cannot remember the last time I saw them together.”

A nasty image was starting to form in Leopold’s mind. Had the attachment been so strong that Lady Barnet sought to drive Mercy from the abbey by frightening her into leaving? But to what end? There was no reason to do so when her lover had died.

It wasn’t beyond the realms of possibility for Lady Barnet to feign poor penmanship and send threatening notes if she’d come to resent Mercy being his cousin’s wife. But to destroy animals so callously, so cruelly and leave them on Mercy’s bed. He wasn’t sure a woman could be capable of such atrocities. He wasn’t sure he wanted to meet them.

In all honesty, Leopold had not taken a liking to Lady Barnet, especially when she suggested that Mercy was not the most ravishing woman in the room. Mercy took his breath away with every smile. It was not particularly nice to criticize a friend before others.

He glanced at Lady Venables. “Well, she is gone for the day with no trouble caused.”

“She has gone, but will be back as surely as the sun rises in the morning.”

“Let’s hope we have a longer absence than that.” He glanced at Edwin, saw a streak of cream remaining on his cheek and grabbed a napkin to wipe it away. “Well, at least she took that scoundrel Shaw with her.”

Lady Venables’ eyebrow rose. “If you are leaving, sir, I think it vastly unkind to fuss about the boy in this way. He will become attached to you.”

“Would you rather have the cream smeared over his face attached to your gown instead?”

A rare smile crossed the woman’s face as she looked upon Edwin. “That is the way of boys. They are messy and unpredictable.”