I kissed her again. I threaded my fingers into her dark hair, and her white cap loosened and fluttered to the floor like a fallen bird.
The warmth of her bed wrapped me in a comfort I had not known in many a year. I learned her that night in her chamber beneath silken bed hangings, learned the cool brush of her fingers, the scent of her skin, the taste of her mouth. I had not realized how starved I’d been; I was like a man who hadn’t known he was thirsty until given clear water to drink.
I sensed from her inexperienced caresses, her unpracticed kisses, that she’d not had a lover in many years. I scorned her fool of a husband as I gentled my touch for her. Even a man who could not complete the act could have pleasured a woman in myriad ways. Colonel Westin seemingly had not bothered to do so.
I liked the way we fit, her head tucked beneath my chin, my arm about her shoulders. She brushed her fingers over my face, smiling at the stiff bristles there. We lay together far into the night, warm and contented. I drifted in and out of sleep, not dreaming, simply dozing in blissful warmth.
At last in the cool hours of the morning I rose and dressed. She smiled sleepily as I kissed her good-bye and departed into the gray dawn.
Happiness settled over me. I knew it would not last, but I drank it in, savoring it for the time I could.
Covent Garden was quiet when I reached it, though a few street ladies still paraded. Black Nancy, a game girl Louisa had taken in to reform, was no longer there, but the others recognized me and greeted me raucously. I tipped my hat to them, my mood still sunny, and moved on to Grimpen Lane.
I reached the bake shop and let myself into the stuffy staircase hall.
Light footsteps hastened down to me. 'Lacey!' Marianne said in a hoarse whisper. A wavering taper, likely one of mine, lit her face. Her eyes were wide. 'Where the devil have you been?'
'Out,' I answered laconically.
'There are men in your rooms, looking for you. Came banging on my door, asking where you were, about two hours ago. As if I take your particulars.'
I glanced up the stairs. All was quiet. The painted shepherds and shepherdesses wavered under the glare of Marianne's candle.
I clasped the head of my cane. 'They are up there now?'
'Yes. I tell you, you cannot fight all three, and they looked well able to throw you down the stairs.'
'Who are they?'
'How the devil should I know? I have never seen them before.'
'Let us find out, shall we?'
I moved past her. She stared at me as though I'd run mad. but made no move to stop me.
I quickly and quietly ascended to the first floor. My door stood closed. Long ago, it had been painted dove gray and its panels outlined in gold. The handle was fancifully shaped like a maiden who’d sprouted great long wings from her back. Once she had been gold, but now she was only the tarnished brass that had lain beneath the gold leafing.
I opened the door.
Two large footmen stood to either side, waiting for me to come bursting in. I foiled them by simply swinging open the door and remaining in the hall. Across the room, James Denis rose from my worn wing chair.
Chapter Fifteen
He wore a black evening suit of superfine, as though he'd just arrived from the theatre or opera. A sapphire ring glinted on his third finger, and a diamond sparkled coldly on his cravat. He or his toadies had lit every one of my candles. The light tinged the flaking ceiling plaster the delicate red-gold of rose petals.
'What do you want?' I asked unceremoniously.
'A moment of your time,' Denis replied. 'Since I could not convince you to visit me in my home, I have traveled to yours. Please come inside.'
'I will when you leave.'
He gave me a frosty look. 'You will want to hear what I have to say, believe me, Captain.'
'I did not ask for your help.'
'Yet I give it. And this after my encounters with you last spring. You owe me much.'
'There we differ. I say I owe you nothing.' I unsheathed my sword. 'Please get out. I have no interest in your information.'
He paused, his eyes hooded. 'Not even in the whereabouts of Mrs. Brandon?'
The words dropped into silence. My heart jumped, then stopped, then began pounding again.
'What the devil have you to do with Mrs. Brandon?'
'I know where she is. You do not. I offer the information in fair exchange.'
My limbs unfroze and I went for him. The two brutes to either side of me seized my arms. I jerked free, and with two strides across the room, my hands locked around James Denis's throat.
His cold blue eyes flickered, but other than that he remained still. Beneath his cravat, his throat was surprisingly warm, and his pulse beat beneath my fingers.
'Tell me where she is,' I said, 'or by God, I will kill you where you stand.'
'Then you would not learn anything.'
In a swift, sudden movement, he brought up his hands between my wrists and snapped them apart.
His henchmen closed on me again as he looked me up and down. 'I imagine you have heard the term 'loose cannon,' Captain. Aboard a frigate, I believe, a cannon that is not fastened down properly provides for much danger. You are that loose cannon for me. You do not heed counsel to stay out of my way, and wherever I turn these days, I nearly trip over you.'
I remembered my encounter with him the day Lydia had asked me to help her. I had wondered what errand he'd been performing in Russel Street. 'If I have met you by chance, that is hardly my fault.'
'That may be. But I do not trust you not to interfere with my business. I have determined that the only way I can trust you-although 'trust' is not quite the word I would use-is to tame you.'
'Tame me?' I almost laughed. 'Like one of your trained lackeys?'
'No,' he said. 'I want you obligated to me. I will appeal to your sense of duty, your sense of fair play. One gentleman does not cheat another.'
'But I do not consider you a gentleman.'
'I believe that.' He gave me the faintest of smiles. 'Mrs. Brandon speaks highly of you. She claims you have a good heart, though your judgment is often rash. I believe you a bit misguided myself.'
Fury welled up so tight I could barely see. 'Where is she?'
'We will come to that in a moment- '
'Where?'
'I will tell you when you meet my price.'
I would not encourage him by asking what the price was. I remained stubbornly silent.
'It will be very simple,' he continued. 'I want you to promise me-your word as a gentleman-that when I call upon you to assist me, in any way or for any reason, you will do so at once, no matter what your situation.'
His expression was utterly still, but I did not delude myself that everything he said was not precisely calculated, his thoughts running far ahead of the conversation. He had decided the outcome of this interview before he had even conducted it.
This man bought and sold favors and owned people outright, and he had an extensive network that stretched all over the continent, perhaps the world. He dressed like a gentleman, lived in a fine house, and drove a fine carriage, but he was as much an underworld figure as the blacklegs who fleeced gentlemen at the gaming hells of St. James’s.
I in no way wanted myself obligated to him. But I thought of Louisa, of her cool gray eyes and warm smile and slightly crooked nose. My blood chilled.
