To Tame a Dangerous Lord (Courtship Wars 5)

“Yes, if you don’t mind. But will you give me a few minutes first? I must speak to Bramsley and make some financial arrangements.”

“Of course.”

“And I should order a meal packed for us since I deprived you of the luncheon I promised you,” Madeline said as an afterthought.

Responding with a light laugh, Tess professed herself capable of going without lunch this once. But in truth, Madeline was glad for the mundane distraction of providing sustenance for their journey.

It would help her to take her mind off her fears for her reckless brother and her attempt to save him from destroying his life with his quixotic but criminal undertaking.

* * *

“Mr. Bramsley is awaiting you in your study, my lord,” Walters informed Rayne as he entered his London manor late that night.

Nodding at his chief aide, Rayne felt his chest tighten. If Bramsley had personally traveled all the way from Chiswick, the news could not be good. The hour was advanced, nearly midnight. Rayne had just returned from his club, where he’d spent the evening trying to distract himself, for even though his plans to thwart a ring of assassins were reaching a critical point, the possible drama playing out at his country estate in Chiswick disturbed him far more.

With effort, he kept his expression neutral as he greeted his majordomo in his study.

“What information do you have for me, Bramsley?” Rayne asked, pretending a dispassion he wasn’t feeling.

“You directed me to investigate anything out of the ordinary regarding Lady Haviland, my lord,” Bramsley responded with reluctance, not questioning why the earl was spying on his wife yet obviously not eager to bear bad tidings, either.

“And you noted something unusual about her behavior,” Rayne prodded.

“Yes, my lord. Her ladyship departed Riverwood suddenly this afternoon.”

“Did she attempt to open my safe first?”

“Not as far as I could tell. But she requested the remainder of her pocket allowance before she went with Miss Blanchard to London.”

“She has gone to Lon

don before during my absence from Riverwood,” Rayne observed.

“Yes, but this time she said she planned to stay at the London home of Lady Danvers this evening, and I know for a fact that her ladyship left London yesterday for the Danvers family seat.”

Hoping there was a simple explanation for his wife’s actions, Rayne set his jaw muscles and forced himself to remain silent as Bramsley continued.

“I thought it best to err on the side of caution, so I had John James follow Lady Haviland as you instructed. I received word from James only an hour ago, so I came directly here to report to you.”

John James was a former agent for British Intelligence who had remained in Rayne’s service after Napoleon’s defeat. He’d been sent to Riverwood only this morning for just such an event, since he had extensive experience in following suspects without being detected. By posing as a footman on Bramsley’s staff, James would have ample opportunity to watch Madeline.

“He must have discovered a serious transgression,” Rayne said, fighting the hollow sensation in his gut.

“I fear so, my lord. Miss Blanchard set Lady Haviland down at The Swan, where she hired a post chaise and set out to the east, toward Canterbury.”

Rayne frowned at the revelation. The Swan was a major coaching station on the outskirts of London, so it made sense that Madeline would go there if she needed an unmarked traveling carriage. But he would have expected her to head for home in Chelmsford in Essex, not Canterbury in Kent. The road to Canterbury continued on to Dover, a seaport on the coast, which offered swift passage to France, Rayne thought absently.

“And did James follow her from The Swan?”

“Yes, on horseback. When Lady Haviland reached Maidstone early this evening, she stopped first at an inn for a short while, then called at a nearby cottage, where no one seemed to be at home. Then she returned to the inn—The Blue Boar—and took rooms. Evidently she is waylaying there overnight.”

Maidstone was also in Kent, not too far distant from the Haviland family seat, Haviland Park, but it was even more puzzling that Madeline had chosen to stay there overnight—unless, of course, she had a prearranged meeting. The sinking sensation sharpened in Rayne’s stomach as Bramsley concluded his report.

“James intends to keep on Lady Haviland’s trail and will send word directly here if she continues on her journey.”

“Thank you, Bramsley. You’ve done well. Tell Walters to have my carriage waiting at first light,” Rayne added dismissively, “and take yourself off to bed.”

“If you please, my lord, I would rather return to Riverwood tonight. I have other duties there.”