An Inconvenient Arrangement (The Rose Room Rogues 3)

The four of them chatted for a while, with a definite pall over the group. Apparently Lydia must have told Diana about the meeting with Sir Phillip because she kept looking back and forth between the two of them with concern. “Are you sure it wouldn’t be better to stay here and hire someone to find whoever is behind the two deaths?”

“I can’t just sit still, Diana. Someone is out there ready to cause harm to Lydia and me. Even if Nick can’t come up with some suggestions as to who might be involved in this, he can certainly recommend someone to act as a guard for my wife.”

“Me?” Lydia said as she held her teacup close to her mouth. “What about you? Are you invincible?”

“I’m a man. I can take care of myself.”

She put her teacup down with a bang. “So was the man from the Home Office, who was in his own home, and he was murdered.”

“She’s right, you know, Dante,” Diana said. “If someone wants you dead it matters not if you’re a man or a woman.”

He waved them off. “I am going upstairs to pack for the next few days.” He turned to Lydia. “When you’re finished with your tea, I suggest you do the same.” He checked his timepiece. “The train leaves in three hours and I need to stop at the club first to speak with Driscoll and Keniel.”

He left the room and bounded up the stairs. It took him less than thirty minutes to pack everything he would need. He still hadn’t employed a valet, which was something he still fought against. He didn’t need to hire someone to tie his ascot or pull off his boots. Clothing that needed attention was sent out to a laundry near the club who also employed a seamstress.

Lydia, however had brought a lady’s maid with her when she had left her father’s home. Since he hadn’t wanted anyone else with them for their honeymoon, he’d given the maid the time off, with pay, and acted as lady’s maid to his wife. Except there had only been one occasion to help her dress and that was when they were leaving the hotel to return home. He grinned at the thought.

Just as he was snapping his bag closed, Lydia entered their bedchamber. “I see you’re ready to go. Just give me another half hour?”

“Yes. I already told your maid, I forget her name—”

“—Alice.”

“Right. I already instructed her to start packing for a couple of days.”

“Thank you. I will be as quick as possible because I know you want to stop at the club first.” She sped to her dressing room where her maid was folding dresses and placing them into a trunk. Dante picked up his satchel and headed downstairs.

He found Hunt still in the library. Dante walked over to the sideboard and poured a brandy and held up the bottle to his brother.

“Yes. I’ll take one. Only two fingers. I still have work to do.”

They sipped their drinks in light conversation since Dante didn’t care to dwell too much on what he and Lydia could possibly be facing. He checked his timepiece three times before Lydia entered the library, pulling on her gloves. “I’m ready.”

Dante downed the rest of his drink and placed the glass back on the sideboard. “Then let us be off.” He took her elbow and turned back to Hunt. “We shall be no more than a couple of days.”

Hunt nodded. “Good luck. I hope Smith can help you. You are taking footmen with you?”

“I have one, Lyons, plus the driver. I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

“Are they carrying pistols?”

“Yes.”

After a hug from Diana at the door, they left the house and entered the carriage, Lyons riding on the back of the vehicle.

The first stop at the club went well. He and Lydia both went up to the office where he talked to Driscoll and Keniel. They assured him all would be well while he was gone. They still had an hour before the train would leave, so some of Dante’s anxiety eased as they said their goodbyes and climbed back into the carriage.

They started off for the train and immediately hit traffic. “It’s a good thing we allowed enough time. This is the last train to Bath today.” He tried to avoid the growing uneasiness at being stuck in a traffic snarl.

The vehicle crawled along until with only twenty minutes left to spare they arrived at Paddington Station. Once they were inside the station, he said, “I will purchase the tickets. Stay with Lyons and the bags; I’ll send a porter over to collect them. Then meet me at the platform.” Dante gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and headed to the ticket counter.

As oftentimes happened in life, the line was long and moved slowly. Dante kept checking his timepiece. Finally, he was able to purchase their tickets and headed back to the platform. Growing frantic, he reached the point where he pushed people aside so he could move along.

He spotted Lydia who waved at him. He slumped with relief and continued toward her a few moments before she screamed and disappeared, the throng surrounding her swallowing her up.

22

Dante’s heart came to an abrupt halt, then started up with a vengeance when he heard Lydia scream. He raced forward, shoving people out of the way, knocking one gentleman to the ground, but kept going. As he reached the crowd huddled around her, his eyes flicked to a man racing away, looking back over his shoulder.