Page 30 of Only Pleasure Will Do

“Tommy Redmond.”

Lady Dalbury’s gasp startled a starling on a nearby branch. Before the bird could take flight, however, the marchioness had whirled around and in one liquid movement seized the babe from the carriage and retreated halfway up the path. “Redmond sent you here? Sent you to kill us?” She clutched the child to her chest so tightly he squawked and began to cry. “Hello, hello, in the house.” She continued to call out and back away from Amorina, who could do nothing save sit and stare as the ruin of her life toppled down around her. “Duncan and I have done nothing to you, save trust you. Why would you do such a thing?”

Amorina’s head snapped up. “Because Redmond is holding my six-year-old daughter and Sir Reginald Matthews. He has promised to kill them both if I do not bring proof of your and the marquess’s deaths to him by noon tomorrow.” Slowly, Amorina rose to face the terrified woman. “Do you think I would do this horrible thing if I had another choice? I may even now have signed their death warrants by telling you of Redmond’s fiendish plan.”

“Redmond has taken Reginald?” That had gotten Lady Dalbury’s attention. She stopped backing up the pathway and stood swaying with the child in her arms. “How did that happen?”

Afraid to believe the change in the lady’s demeanor augured hope, Amorina blinked back tears before they could fall. “I was kidnapped weeks ago and held at Redmond’s estate in Kent. The ladies at the House of Pleasure had instructions to inform Sir Reginald should I ever go missing. He went in search of me, and early this morning, he found me.”

Lord, had it been only this morning? With everything that had happened, it seemed days ago since she’d hit Reginald over the head with the chair.

“We attempted escape but could not pick the door lock.” The lady looked more willing to believe her now she knew of her cousin’s involvement. “Eventually, Mr. Redmond appeared with my daughter.”

Lady Dalbury’s eyes softened. “I didn’t know you had a daughter.”

Amorina nodded. “He’d been looking for her while he held me prisoner. So he could use her as leverage to make me do his bidding. Which turned out to be delivering this device to you.” Tears pricked her eyes again. “I had no reason to wish you harm, my lady. But I couldn’t stand by and let him kill my child. I think you may understand that.”

The marchioness nodded and gestured her closer. “What of my cousin?”

“Just before I left, Redmond clubbed Sir Reginald with the butt of his pistol. I pray he still lives, for I gave my child into his keeping.” That she had other, more tender feelings for the man she would not reveal. It mattered little in the scheme of things, although she would weep hard and long if she found out he had not survived Redmond’s treatment. Pray God it did not come to that.

Gesturing to her again, Lady Dalbury at last succeeded in drawing Amorina away from the infernal machine and closer to her. “We must inform Duncan of this heinous scheme. He will know what to do to ensure no one is harmed.”

The idea of meeting the marquess and laying before him the evil plan, including her own treachery, did not appeal to Amorina in the slightest. Not only would he be furious at her for even attempting to carry out such a plan, but being in the same room with Duncan and his wife—knowing full well Lady Dalbury was aware of her former relationship with her husband—was more than unsettling. She had only a fondness for the marquess still in her heart, nothing at all like the passion that had suddenly flared for Reginald this morning. Still, whatever her feelings for Duncan, he was not a man to be crossed.

“Are you certain that is the best way to proceed, my lady? Better I simply take this clock away and devise some trick to convince Mr. Redmond you have died.”

“Nonsense.” She grasped Amorina’s arm and turned her toward the house. “Duncan will find a way to rescue your child and my cousin without putting you at risk as well.”

“But, my lady.” Amorina turned back to look at the satchel, innocently sitting at the end of the bench. “I don’t like to leave it there. And I would not take it into the house under any circumstances.”

“Very well. I will have a footman watch it from a safe distance until Duncan can have it disposed of.” Lady Dalbury’s utmost confidence in her husband’s abilities made Amorina smile despite being in the center of a tempest.

“Lady Dalbury.” Amorina lowered her voice and drew closer to the marchioness. “I have reason to believe that Mr. Redmond has a spy in your household.”

“What?” The lady stopped, not far from the grassy patch between the pathway and the kitchen door.

“When he was speaking to me this morning, Mr. Redmond made mention that he knew about several favors I’d done for you this past year. Regarding Lady Juliet. Would anyone other than the immediate family know about my examination of your sister-in-law? Or that she was hidden in my house for some days?”

“St. Cyr, of course, knew about the examination. It was he, in fact, who suggested you conduct it. Mr. Grimes also knew, but no one else. And to my knowledge, only Duncan and I, Juliet and Amiable, and you know where Juliet was kept.” The frown was back on Lady Dalbury’s brow again. “You think one of the servants is being paid for information about us?”

“It would explain why he knows about Juliet’s whereabouts during that time.” Amorina shrugged. “Servants always listen, but if they are loyal, they do not repeat what they’ve heard. If there is a spy among your servants, we must be most careful what we do and what they overhear.”

Lady Dalbury’s eyes narrowed. “We shall see about that. I will ferret out whoever has been disloyal to us. I’m not quite sure what Duncan could do to such a person, but I daresay they will not come out on the top of that argument. Come.” She took Amorina’s arm. “We shall say that the bauble is to be unveiled in the garden, because it is such a fine day or something such as that, so while we are inside it must be guarded to keep anyone from disturbing it.”

“That may suffice.” As Amorina had suspected on the long-ago night of her kidnapping, Lady Dalbury could keep her head when a crisis arose. “They, whoever they are, can report to Redmond that I met with you and that we talked pleasantly before going into the house. At least Redmond will think I am doing his work for him.”

“If the person is able to report to him.” Lady Dalbury smiled a cold, cruel smile that sent a shiver down Amorina’s back from nape to heels. “When my husband discovers them, I would not wager a farthing that they will ever leave Dunham House alive.”