His Dark Enchantress (Books We Love Regency Romance) (33 page)

As they prepared the weapons, Pike
returned. The servant he had with him looked slightly askance at the firearms now lying upon the table.

“
Peter here says a husband and wife by the name of Dufresne were at the Anchor yesterday,” Pike reported.

“Dufresne, you say?” Lucius sighted along the barrel of his pistol, imagining Styles in his sights. Was it a coincidence that Styles was using the name Dufresne? He thought not, but how the devil had he discovered it? He
shot a questing glance at Pike’s man. “Did you see them?”

Peter shook his head. “
The potboy at the Anchor’s my nephew. He said the cove was a restless sort and the lady was not well when they arrived. She kept to an upstairs chamber and wasn’t much seen.”

“Are they still there?”

“Don’t rightly know that, sir.”

“Well, never mind that now,” Lucius said. “We’ll find out soon enough. Are you all ready?”

Heavily cloaked against the weather, Lucius and his men followed Peter. Heads down and keeping as close as possible to the shelter of the tall houses overshadowing the narrow, darkened streets they dodged occasional barrels and stacks of nets as they hurried over the rain sluiced cobbles.

“There it is,”
Peter said, pointing at the sign swinging on its bracket above the Anchor’s door.

“As disreputable as I suspected,” muttered Lucius, pausing to peer through the cracked and smoke grimed tap room window. “I trust Styles was able to somehow make Emmaline comfortable.”

Lanterns hanging from the low rafters lit the room. Two men sat at a table, another leaned against the chimney breast, no doubt warming himself. A fourth man sat alone with a bottle on the table and a tankard in his hand.

“That’s Hooper,” Lucius said.

“Don’t look none too happy,” remarked Tocky. “Do ye want me to engage ‘im in conversation?”

“Yes, find out from him what you can.” Lucius handed a purse to Noble. “Should be enough in there to get them to loosen their tongues. Edward, come with me. We’re going to find the landlord.”

“That would be Ted Barker, sir,” Peter offered.

Lucius thanked him and sent him back to
the Rose and Crown with orders to have a meal ready for their return.

As Noble and Tocky entered the tap room, Lucius and Edward continued along the passageway.
A poster advertising the rules of the house caught Lucius’ eye. It declared no thieves, fakirs, rogues or tinkers.

So much for that, he thought, for Styles
qualified as both a thief and a rogue.

A one eyed man appeared from the cellar steps carrying a crate of bottles. His one good eye regarded them steadily.

“Are you Lord Clifton?” he asked quietly.

Lucius nodded. “That I am and come for
the lady who is here.”

“She’s already gone, milord. They left this morning, just before this storm blew in. They’ll not have an easy passage.”

“Are you Barker?” Lucius asked.

The man shook his head. “Don’t worry about him, he’s passed out in the back parlour.”

“What vessels will be available to take us to Boulogne tomorrow?”

“That’ll depend on the weather. If this wind drops then Jem Tulley might be persuaded to take you
.
He came in just ahead of this storm. It won’t be easy though.”

“
I’m not looking for easy, I’m looking for the quickest way to recover my wife. Your name, my man?”

There was a slight hesitation and Lucius felt a little uneasy with the one-eyed scrutiny to which he was subjected
but the man nodded his head, as if assuring himself of what he should do.

“Just ask for Ned, milord.”

Lucius tipped his hat and turned to Edward.

“We’ll wait here. If Noble and Tocky are having any success with their questioning, my appearance may dry everyone’s tongue and render instant memory loss.”

“If you’ll step back here, milord,” Ned said, “you can wait out of sight. I’ll let your men know where you are.”

They followed Ned into the back parlour where the
senseless landlord sprawled in an arm chair.

“It appears Mr. Barker enjoys his trade rather too much,” Lucius remarked.

So that Lucius could pass to sit at a battered table, Ned kicked the landlord’s legs to one side. The only result it elicited was a noisy grunt from the occupant of the chair. Edward pulled out another chair and sat down. After querying what they might like to drink, Ned went off to fetch porter and ale and they settled in to wait.

The sounds of raucous laughter from the direction of the tap room caught their attention. Someone started singing a bawdy shanty and it wasn’t long before Noble and Tocky emerged hanging on to each other with all the appearance of having drunk far too much.

Instead of heading out the front door, they turned towards the parlour and joined Lucius and Edward. Noble passed a hand over his forehead and Tocky just grinned.

“That Hooper was none too happy,” he said. “Much aggrieved that
Styles hadn’t paid him but half of what they agreed. Sang like a bird, he did.”

“But where is Styles taking my wife? Does he know that?” Lucius asked impatiently.

“Lille.” Noble said promptly. “Apparently Lady Clifton has a price on her head and Styles intends to claim it for himself. At least, that’s what Hooper thinks.”

“Emmaline has a price on her head?” Lucius looked puzzled. “In God’s name what could she have done to deserve that?”

“Hooper didn’t know,” Tocky said. “All he did know was that Styles was on ‘is way to Lille. ‘E ‘ad to meet some French cove by the name of du Lully. Sorry, milord, it’s not much to go on.”

“Indeed, it’s more than we had an hour ago.” Lucius’ grey eyes glinted with a dangerous light. “Lady Clifton has mentioned the name to me, so I can verify that. I can only presume Lille is where he resides. Now all we need do is pray this storm blows itself out tonight and we can take passage tomorrow. Is Hooper still in the tap room?”

Noble nodded. “Out cold, milord. Took a drop too much like this souse here.”

“Good. Have Ned call the
Watch. They can deal with Hooper. We’ll go back to the Rose and Crown.”

The covers were already laid by the time they returned to the inn. Pike took their wet cloaks as they took their seats at the table and assured them the food was good and hot and
would be before them in the blink of an eye.

A maid hurried in with a
fully loaded tray of steaming food and they ate their fill of steak and kidney pudding, potatoes and gravy.

Lucius called for coffee
and brandy.

“Thank you, Pike,” he said as the landlord poured snifters for them all. “What I don’t understand is w
hy would they have chosen to depart from Folkestone and not Dover?”

“If I may make a suggestion, my Lord?” Pike stood in the doorway
, the nearly empty decanter in his hand.

“Yes?”

“In Dover they would be most likely to have to take passage on a ship carrying mail and so not easily forgotten. Here, they could be more private like, as we have several fellows slip quietly in and out of Folkestone, if you get my meaning.”

Lucius held his glass up to the light the better to see the rich liquid it contained.

“Along with this Armagnac, if I am not mistaken,” he said quietly.

“You have a discerning taste, my Lord.” Pike grinned.

“I’ll not ask how you came by it,” Lucius responded. “But in the morning I’ll be looking for Jem Tulley. There’s nothing more we can do until then.”

At least nothing physical,
he thought, but I can pray.

CHAPTER 29

By morning the wind had dropped and the sky was a clear, rain washed blue. The only reminder of the storm was a heavy swell, causing whitecaps to race across the top of the waves, and a report of a fishing boat aground on the beach at The Warren.

Ships in the harbour bobbed at their moorings, gulls squabbled over fish scraps on the quay and fishermen began to lay out their nets to dry and mend. They watched with mild curiosity as Lucius, cloak flowing and beaver hat sitting at a determined angle on his head, hurried by on his way to
a meeting with Jem Tulley.

Captain Tulley
was at first reluctant to take them. His price would be high, he said, because passengers, unlike contraband, could talk and loose talk cost lives.

“I have no interest in what you do or how you do it,” Lucius assured him. “Neither do my men. All I want, all I n
eed, is passage to Boulogne. After that it will be as if we never met.”

Tulley explained the need to take a small vessel to wait offshore and transfer to his barque, the
Go Lightly
, it having too deep a draught to enter Folkestone’s harbour.

“However we have to do
the thing, let’s get it done,” Lucius told him.

By
early afternoon they were underway. Seabirds wheeled overhead and Lucius, frantic to make the crossing and follow whatever trail Emmaline might have left for him, envied them their wings.

Beside him at the gunwales, looking rather green, Edward gamely braved the stiff wind and far flung spray as the
Go Lightly
heaved itself up the face of one wave before sliding down the back of it.

Noble and Tocky suffered below decks, a state that somewhat amused Lucius despite his dark mood.

Ned proved himself further by furnishing the information that Styles might have stopped at the Flood Tide or the Full Moon in Boulogne, and would have likely hired a coach and horses at the White Horse.

The crossing took little more than an hour but, as the barque nosed its way into the port at the mouth of the Liane River, Lucius could
not wait to get his feet on dry land.

“I’m sure you’ll find your Lady unharmed, milord,” Captain Tulley said.

Lucius nodded as he set foot on top of the gangplank. “I pray you’re right.”

Once ashore he took pity on Noble and Tocky, who both looked as green as Edward, and ushered them into the first inn they came to and asked for a private parlour.

“Coffee, I think,” he said. “For all of us.”

W
hen the coffee had been brought he waved away the innkeeper and took a seat at the table.

“We’
ll do the same as in Folkestone.” Determination made his voice grim. “Noble, I want you and Tocky to make enquiries at the Full Moon and the Flood Tide. Edward, find the White Horse and hire a horse for me and carriage for you three and our equipment. I’ll get directions for the quickest route to Lille from the landlord here.”

Edward was the first to return and he and Lucius waited impatiently for Noble and Tocky.

“Perhaps they are unable to make themselves understood,” suggested Edward.

Lucius shook his head. “I doubt it. Noble speaks passable French and Tocky appears to be able to make himself understood anywhere. Plus, with coin available to pay for a round or two of drinks, they may be gleaning more information than we expect.”

“Maybe there was no news at the first inn,” mused Edward. “That would more likely explain where they are.”

His nerves almost at breaking point, Lucius made a fist of one hand and drove it home into the palm of the other as he paced the small parlour. His
expression became more grim and it was supper time before Noble and Tocky returned, both looking pleased with themselves.

“They were at the Full Moon,” Noble reported.
“and your lady was smart enough to carve her initials in the door frame, same as at the Anchor.”

“An’
they caused talk right away,” added Tocky, “as the gentleman rushed the lady to an upstairs room. Said she was seasick and needed to lie down but I talked to a serving maid who said the lady was not sick but was
enrager comme le diable
.”

“Mad as hell.” Lucius nodded and
could not help but grin at the thought. “She would be and will make life as difficult as possible for Styles, I’m sure.”

“As long as she don’t get hurt, my Lord,” Tocky said. “By all accounts this Styles is none too pleasant. Got a bit free with ‘is fists and the landlord would have turfed ‘im out if not for the lady.”

“I take it they have already left?” Lucius stroked his chin thoughtfully.

“Aye, yesterday morning.” Noble told him.

“I cannot stand the delay.” An image of Emmaline confined to a room was one thing, but the possibility of her being bound or held at gunpoint to ensure her compliance while on the move was quite another. “I’m going to ride ahead. You three follow at first light.”

“My Lord!” Edward protested but his concern was brushed aside.

“I have my Manton’s primed and ready, Edward.” Lucius
reminded him. “If anyone dare cross me they will regret it.”