Page 30 of Against the Wind

“To the de Courtenays’, darling, to arrange for Lady Egerton’s clothes to be returned to her.”

Mary was calm, but Kit was nervous. She stood several feet away, next to the window in the parlor, watching the two of them. She did not want to become a problem for the happily married couple.

“Dressed like that?”

“Yes, darling. I could not exactly go dressed as the Marchioness of Ormond now, could I? Not without attracting attention.”

“I suppose not.” Ormond scowled. “The question is why you went at all!”

“I wanted to meet the twins Kit spoke of, darling, the ones for whom she has been governess. And besides, she must have her gowns.”

Kit could see Ormond was exasperated with his wife, but his anger seemed merely a reflection of his concern for her welfare. His love for his beautiful wife was evident on his face. On the other hand, Mary was all sweetness. Clearly this was not the first time she had dealt with her husband’s powerful temper. Nor he with his wife’s adventuring, as Mary called it.

“And, you, my lady,” Ormond said, turning dark eyes on Kit. “What will Martin say about this? You were not to leave the townhouse! It is simply too dangerous.”

His stare was intimidating, a dark storm about to break, but Kit would not cower. “I am sorry for being the cause of worry, my lord, but I had to say goodbye. The de Courtenays have been very good to me. I did wear this disguise, and I have no doubt it was effective. We were not recognized.”

Ormond scrutinized Kit’s clothing, running his eyes over the worn breeches and muslin shirt. She had shed the coat and cap.

“That attire looks very familiar—a costume my wife has worn previously, no doubt.” His gaze slid to his wife. Mary grinned sheepishly. “My wife has a love for adventure, Lady Egerton. Did you know that?”

Kit loathed getting Mary into trouble, but she would not lie to the marquess. “She did suggest it to me, my lord.”

“It was only one little adventure, darling,” Mary interjected as her husband’s glare returned to her. “And it was not so dangerous as you imagine. It was worth it to meet the twins. They are lovely.”

Ormond grunted, clearly displeased. “Were you followed? Did you see anyone?”

“No,” Mary replied matter-of-factly, “we were not followed, I made sure of that. However, there was a man watching the de Courtenay house. He was hiding, not very well, in plain sight,” she reported. “Rather nondescript, slight build, brown hair, plain clothes.”

“I am not surprised,” said her husband. “We expected Rutledge to learn of Lady Egerton’s time with the de Courtenays. I do not want either of you to go there again. You may leave the retrieval of Lady Egerton’s things to me.”

Mary walked to her husband, leaned into his broad chest and reached up to kiss him on the cheek. “Thank you, darling.”

Still disgruntled, Ormond mumbled something about the mother of his child taking unacceptable risks, but Kit thought the anger was mostly an act. He clearly could not stay upset with his wife for any amount of time. Kit thought it one of the sweetest things she’d ever seen.

That same afternoon, Martin followed Ormond into his study, his brain reeling from all he’d learned. William Oliver was going to stir up a hornets’ nest in the Midlands, that much was clear. Now he had to determine the best way to learn all he could and minimize the damage Sidmouth’s agent could do.

Before he could say anything, Ormond frowned. “The ladies were busy this afternoon, Martin. It seems the two rebellious chits went to the de Courtenay house alone, albeit in disguise.”

“What?” Martin blurted.

“I was sorely tempted to throttle Mary. Here, have a brandy,” Ormond insisted, shoving a glass into his hand. “You look like you need one as much as I.”

Martin was happy to accept it. “I am certain I told Kit not to leave the townhouse,” he said, taking a sip of the amber liquid and welcoming the burn down his throat. He was not fond of ale, and pretending to drink it all afternoon had not been a pleasant experience, though he had done it many times before as a spy. “I cannot believe she disobeyed me. It was only concern for her safety I had in mind. What a foolish thing to do! She could have been seen, recognized.”

“Likely it was my lovely wife who led her astray. Another of Lady Ormond’s many adventures. Life recently has been a bit dull for her, I fear, as I have had to rein in her love of danger. Only my wife—a new mother and with child again—would consider doing what she did.” And then with a deeper frown, “We have already had words.”

Martin shook his head. “It was definitely risky for them to go there. Do you think they were observed?”

“Oh, they were definitely observed…by a man watching the house, according to Mary, though given how they were dressed, I doubt he knew what he was seeing.”

How could she disobey him? Martin turned to gaze out the window in Ormond’s study to the street below. The last thing he needed was to be worrying about Kit, but he was worried about her. Having just found her, he did not want to lose her again. He felt very possessive of the woman. His assignment was going to require his full attention, but his concern for Kit might cause him to become careless. A spy could not afford to make mistakes.

He heard a rustling behind him as Ormond set down his paper. “What do you intend to do with her, Martin?”

“I assume by ‘her’ you refer to Lady Egerton?”

“Yes.”