Masquerade at Middlecrest Abbey Page 2

  The hurtful memories tainted my voice. “When can I see my son?”

  “I suggest for now you focus on your recovery and—”

  “I do thank you for your concern.” I gave him a pert smile. “However, I shall do no such thing. I expect Isaac to be brought to me as soon as can be arranged.”

  Torrington covered a smug grin with his hand. “As you say, my lady. I’ll be sure you see him first thing in the morning. But at this very moment, it is urgent we decide between the two of us what is to be done.”

  “We? I assure you, my business is none of your affair.” The last thing I wanted was further connection to Brook’s family, particularly with the highwayman who had run my carriage from the road. “As soon as I am recovered, I shall continue on to Dover and assume my position as housekeeper. I will not permit you to feel responsible for me in any way.”

  Torrington made his way to the bedside. “If only it were that simple.”

  Clearly the man was accustomed to barking orders and having them performed immediately. By the look in his eye, he had a plan, and considering his presence in my room, it must involve me. A chill swept over me, but I shook it off, adding hurriedly, “Allow me to remind you, this is not a game. I am not some chess piece to be moved at will, my lord.”

  He plunged his fingers into his hair, which drew my attention to a small patch of gray residing just above his forehead. “I do apologize if I gave you that impression. I have never been one for tact. In fact, I have spent the last hour or more calculating the best way to tell you what has transpired since the crash. I don’t wish to upset you, however—”

  “It is a bit late for that. Be assured, you have upset absolutely everything—my plans, my future.” I sighed. “Simply give me the whole of it, if you please.”

  He slumped into the chair beside the bed, his words achingly slow to come. “You have already made the connection that I was posing as a highwayman when the accident occurred.”

  “How could I not? You pointed a pistol at me through the window. Did you think I could forget such a thing? And my coachman, dare I ask how he fares?”

  Torrington ran his hand down his face as I’d seen my brother, Lucius, do a thousand times when his back was against a wall. “He has a few broken bones, but the doctor assures me he will heal. I’ve paid the staff to see to anything he needs.”

  Torrington waited for me to fully digest what he’d said, the shadow of pain evident in his eyes. “Is he a friend of yours?”

  “No, although he was quite close with my brother, Lucius, at one time.”

  The muscles in Torrington’s jaw clenched, and he shook his head. “As I said before, the whole blasted robbery was a mistake. Listen—” He lifted his finger to point at me, then crushed it into a fist and pressed it against his chin. “I can see you have no intention of making this easy—gawking at me like that.” He took a long breath. “And you had to be Curtis Sinclair’s cousin-in-law. Convenient.” He tapped his fingers on the bed first one direction then the next. “I do realize you deserve more than a well-constructed lie, yet . . . Tell me, has Mr. Sinclair ever mentioned me before?”

  “Mentioned you? Good gracious no. Why should he?” The words were out rather quickly, but as I met Torrington’s sharp gaze, my thoughts took a wild turn, back to a year and a half before when Curtis spent time as a British spy. He’d posed as a highwayman to gather information. Could Torrington be involved in something similar? Brook had never revealed anything of the sort.

  Torrington dipped his head, watching me with a keen eye for several seconds, then smiled impulsively. He knew I knew.

  If only I wasn’t such a terrible liar, I might try to deny what was probably written across my face. My shoulders slumped. “You worked with Curtis?”

  A slow nod. “You could say that.”

  I narrowed my eyes and took the bait. “For the crown?”

  Torrington paused to appraise the coverlet, then abruptly looked up. “You must realize it goes against my very nature to discuss something I have kept well-hidden for nearly fifteen years.”

  I didn’t move.

  “On the other hand, if Curtis saw fit to entrust you with his own secret, and considering our situation, I believe I have little choice but to do so as well.” Something shifted in his countenance. Concern? Confidence? It was hard to read Torrington’s slight emotions in the candlelight. His voice, though, took a dangerous dip as he gripped my hand. “What I am about to say must be kept in the strictest confidence.”

  I met his steady glare. “You have my silence. Go on.”

  “At present and in secret, I work as an agent for the British government.” His eyes flashed. “Moreover, I’m a spy.”

  An odd mix of emotions struck me as I processed his confession. Half shock, half interest. I’d always thought of Curtis as selfless and good. How on earth had Brook’s scandalous elder brother become involved in such a noble endeavor?

  Torrington glanced down at his hands as he folded them on the bed, his voice low but rushed. “I was sent by a secret division of the government called the special office to rob your coach. You see, the authorities in Dover uncovered information that a document was being moved across England in a carriage matching your coach’s description. I was told this missive, whatever it may be, is of vital importance to the war effort.” He steadied his gaze. “I’ve single-handedly put Wellington in a difficult position after I held up what I can only deduce was the wrong coach.”

  “It most certainly was the wrong coach. I haven’t the least notion of any document, and I’ve never had any love for France.”

  He closed his eyes. “I’m well aware you are not a part of the spying network we have been playing cat and mouse with over the last few years. My blasted error has ruined everything. For you, for Britain.” He lowered his head. “And when your cousin-in-law finds out what I’ve done . . .”

  The silence of the room pressed against my ears. He was right. I could only imagine Curtis’s reaction to all I’d experienced. He was currently in London unaware I’d even left his home, let alone traveled without warning to accept a housekeeping position for a friend. Of course, I planned to write them when I had settled and there was no question of fetching me back.

  I cleared my throat. “Your words do have merit, my lord. Curtis can be quite protective of his family. Yet . . .” I glanced up. “He may also be kept in the dark if need be.”

  Concern crept into Torrington’s eyes. “Unfortunately, there is more, a great deal more.” He adjusted his position on the chair, and for the first time I thought him genuinely nervous. He forced more of a grimace than a smile as he rested against the seat back. “You see, when the second carriage arrived at the scene of the accident, you’d already removed my mask. I said something to protect my identity that I have now come to regret.”

  The dull headache threatened to return, so I waved him on.

  His voice dipped into a sort of comical apology. “I, uh, told them you were my wife.”

  Chapter 2

  “Your wife!” Panic wrapped my heart.

  Torrington held up his hand, staving off a slew of searing words poised to spill forth. His face remained a maddening mixture of integrity and arrogance, yet his tone sounded defensive. “I acknowledge what I said was brash and foolish, but you must try to understand. I was inside the carriage and neither you nor your coachman were conscious when help arrived. It was imperative that I protect my identity. I had no idea who they were or what they’d seen. And without your words to refute me, I carried the lie at length, even into the inn and your very bedchamber.”

  I drew away from him, cringing as the reality of his declaration echoed into the gloomy corners of the room. What might come about from such a simple statement? My head swam, yet I attempted to push myself into a sitting position. I could not fully digest this development lying on my back. Torrington sought to help me, but I thrust him away, completing the shaky transfer within my own power. “Exactly how many people hear
d what you said?”

  His voice was firm as he flexed his fingers. “Only a few. However, I wasn’t expecting to meet an acquaintance of mine in the receiving area when I arranged for our room.” He looked up. “He knows me. He knows you. The damage is done. I had no choice but to continue in my deception.”

  I huffed a cynical laugh as Torrington sat there regarding me like a cursed statue, probably uncertain what to do or say next. He had made a mull of everything. Whatever was left of my failing reputation would be nonexistent in a matter of days. An assignation in the country with Brook’s elder brother . . . Oh, the dratted Radcliffs!

  Of course, there were likely few who had connected Brook to my son, but another scandal on my part had the distinct possibility of ruining any chance I had to work as a housekeeper—even for a friend. I had planned so well for Isaac and me. A small country village, space for him to grow in the freedom of anonymity. Now it was all lost. And so close to Dover? This little escapade would not go unremarked.

  I buried my humiliation before giving Torrington my own scorching glare. “How do you plan to go about setting this man straight—and the others, my lord?” All at once I had the feeling money would be involved, and a flame lit my tone. “I don’t want anything from you, not a solitary farthing if that is why you are here.”

  He seemed taken aback, his gaze flitting between me and the dismal recesses of the room. The ease surrounding his earlier conversation died away. It was only then I took note of his previous words, “Continue in my deception.”

  I braced myself. “What precisely did you tell your friend?”

  He opened his mouth, then faltered. It was as if a shroud dropped between us. His face fell emotionless, his back stiff. The keen light in his eyes became a probing dagger. He managed to say drily, “I gave him the gossip he was so eager to uncover—a plausible reason for my sudden flight into the area, why I had been in your coach and your room unescorted.”

  My eyes widened.

  “I told him I was deeply in love and decided to marry you on a whim by special license but a day ago.” He swallowed hard. “And I have no intention of taking back that statement.”

  His words burned with far more venom than I could have imagined. Slowly, I shook my head, the heavy ropes of truth binding my chest ever tighter. He meant marriage. To me.

  Torrington allowed me a quiet moment before his fingers rested on mine. “I am well aware we are strangers, and I am a poor offering for any lady, but I would ask you to entertain the possibility. Please, do not dismiss me out of turn.” He lowered his voice. “As my wife, your position in society would be secure, your purse full. Though neither of us set out this morning with any idea of such a ridiculous arrangement, I find on further reflection that a convenient marriage might fit both our needs.”

  “You seriously mean to continue this, this farce?”

  He didn’t flinch. “To the signature on the marriage document and beyond. I care a great deal about my country as well as my two daughters. I won’t attach another scandal to their names. I’ve had some time to think on this while you slept. Marriage is the only way to satisfy not only my vow to the crown, but my honor as a gentleman. I would never leave you in such a fix.”

  My chest felt heavy. “You don’t even know me. Rest assured, there will be no scandal, not for you or your family.” Brook’s utter betrayal came to mind, and I found I could barely look at Torrington’s face. “I have already had a child out of wedlock . . . You owe me nothing.”

  He turned my hand over in his, his focus following the flurry of shadows across my skin. “I am well aware you are unwed, but if you are concerned for your son, please, do not be. There can be no better situation for him than under my protection at Middlecrest Abbey. He will have opportunities there and, with my financial backing, the ability to achieve more than he could anywhere else.”

  I closed my eyes, picturing little Isaac curled up asleep in the other room and what his life would be like as a housekeeper’s son. I could not dismiss Torrington’s proposition so easily. My heart squeezed. My response would affect the rest of Isaac’s life. But could I do it? Could I marry Brook’s brother after their father forbade Brook to marry me? The thought was absurd yet oddly satisfying at the same time. The Radcliff family did owe me, so to speak. How Brook would squirm if he knew.

  I narrowed my eyes. After all, I had given up any thoughts of romance or love over the past year. Torrington’s emotionless offer was nothing to me, but what of my independence? I’d worked so hard to find a place where I could simply . . . disappear. Could I bear to lose my freedom as well?

  Torrington angled his chin. “I can see you working through the advantages and disadvantages of such a match, so let me add that I do believe marriage the optimal decision, not only for Britain, but for us as well. I have two nearly grown daughters at eighteen and sixteen who are in need of a woman to guide them, and more practically, a chaperone to escort them to balls and parties and whatnot.”

  His tone eased, the rugged confidence returning to his face. He possessed a rather attractive grin and used it to his advantage. “Who better to do so than my wife? I’ve never been a solitary creature, and with my eldest daughter engaged to be married and my youngest in all likelihood not far behind, I daresay it would be to my benefit to have a person with a well-informed mind residing in my house.”

  The thought of me inducing what he considered intelligent conversation drew a smile. “I am not a bluestocking, my lord.”

  “That is not what I intended to imply nor what I desire.” His eyes flashed. “Perhaps what I should have said was a refined woman.”

  So he meant to remind me of my six and twenty years. I was well aware of my age. What he and the rest of the world couldn’t possibly understand was that all I really craved was simplicity and solitude.

  Silence settled between us, and I was left suddenly aware of my own heartbeat. He rested his arm on the eiderdown, and for a whirling second I imagined what it would feel like to be held by such a man.

  I shook myself back to the present. What would he say when he learned of Isaac’s parentage? If he learned of it. If the gossips were to be believed, Brook had stayed away from Middlecrest Abbey for years.

  I cast a sideways glance, the outrageous offer swaying like a pendulum in my mind. What if I agreed?

  I forced the questions circling my mind at bay, allowing myself the freedom to fully consider how my life would change—what it would feel like to be near this man daily—to be intimate with him. Though he said it would be a convenient marriage, we would still be thrown together a great deal. He was handsome to be sure and a well-practiced flirt. I’d allowed myself to fall into Brook’s arms so easily. A girl in the throes of her first love, I’d believed all of Brook’s impassioned declarations. But I was older and wiser now, and Torrington was offering me the exact opposite of what his brother had two years before—security without love.

  He didn’t bother pretending not to notice me staring at him. He knew quite well I was measuring his worth. He leaned forward, a knowing edge to his voice. “Well?”

  With the ghost of a laugh, I turned away, quick to squelch any misplaced attraction. Torrington was not to be trusted, and I was hardly myself at present. It was the late hour, the dipping candlelight, the emotive stillness . . . and my prior relationship with Brook. I suppose some sort of love for him still resided deep within, buried somewhere in the recesses of my mind. I was merely transferring the feelings to his brother. How alike they were, but at the same time so different.

  Torrington also seemed determined to shake off the moment. He was all business now, a solicitor enacting a deposition. “Do you think you can manage a decision? Unfortunately, we haven’t much time to quibble.”

  Quibble, indeed. I knit my brow as all kinds of questions popped into my mind. How old was Torrington? I could see the laugh lines branching about his eyes, a cultivated jawline that could only be gained with experience. He rode his horse exceptionally we
ll, his seat as good as any I’d ever seen. He had years on Brook, that I knew, but how many with two nearly grown daughters at home? I cleared my throat. “If I may, what is your age, my lord?”

  He eyed me for a moment. “I am not in my dotage, if that is what you think.”

  “The number, please.”

  He chuckled. “Will it affect your decision?”

  “Possibly.”

  “Seven and thirty.” He seemed to be choosing his next words carefully. “I was married and widowed quite young.”

  Very young.

  “Do not distress yourself.” Diversion crept into his words. “I fully intend to provide you with a jointure if in fact you do end up wearing the widow’s weeds as you seem to think likely.”

  I shot a look up at the ceiling. “I didn’t mean to imply you were near death.”

  “No?” He adjusted the ruffle on the dressing gown he’d borrowed as a newfound reticence entered his voice. “Though I do feel I’ve lived a long time in many ways.”

  “As have I.”

  He searched my eyes before looking away. “Then all that is left, my dear, is for you to agree to marry me by special license and pretend to the world that you were swept off your feet by my allure.”

  I pursed my lips, a curt refusal aching to slip out.

  He laughed. “I said pretend, not to actually fall in love with me.” He checked himself. “In fact, I am beginning to wonder if you possess such an ability at all after I’ve tried quite deliberately so far to draw you in.”

  “Is that what that was?” I dipped my chin. “And yet I am unmoved.”

  “All I ask is for you to feign affection in public, my dear, and we shall get on quite well with one another. Think of our marriage as a rather pleasant masquerade.”

  I nearly laughed aloud. “But I will still have to live with you.”