An Improper Proposal (The Distinguished Rogues Book 6) (31 page)

“We must find him before he can escape.” Iris caught one side of her skirts and hurried toward the card room. The chamber was full of noise and unfamiliar faces and stank of spirits, but she quickly slowed down so she wouldn’t draw attention.

She rounded the central table and saw Talbot across the room as he lifted a glass to his lips and took a long sip. He set the glass aside calmly and dipped his hand into his coat pocket. A pocket that bulged in a way no decent tailor would intend.

The superior, smug smile gracing his face infuriated her. He had the gems on him and was drinking to congratulate himself at the very scene of his crime. How many times must he have done this to others and never been noticed?

“There’s been a robbery,” Acton shouted loudly at her back. “The watch has been sent for. No one can leave until the culprit has been uncovered.”

Iris stilled as ordered but kept her eyes on Talbot even as the gentlemen in the card room came to their feet against Acton’s wishes.

“Don’t move,” Iris screamed as Talbot was partially hidden from her view.

The gentlemen closest to her stared at her blankly and began to complain of her rudeness to each other. Talbot glared at her and edged to the side. It was only then she realized a window nearest him was open.

She rushed forward. “Talbot!”

Acton restrained her even as Talbot dove out the window. Iris struggled free of him. “He’s getting away! Talbot just jumped out your window. What innocent man does that?”

She was released and Acton and then Windermere brushed past her to stare out into the night-dark gardens. Windermere jumped through the window, as did the Marquess of Ettington a minute later.

Martin hugged her. “I should have known he was on to us.”

“Why?” she asked, staring up into her husband’s furious face.

“The turnkey delivered a note the day after we married. It was not signed but threatened to take away what you loved most.”

Iris clutched his waistcoat with both hand. “My father is safe but… Dear God, no. He couldn’t know about her.”

Martin met her gaze blankly. “What is it?”

“I have to go. Violet isn’t safe.” Iris hitched up her skirts and ran for the front entrance, ignoring the shocked faces and her husband’s demand she slow down. She had to reach her daughter in time and Talbot already had a head start.

Lord Acton’s home was not far from Pollen Street and she sprinted down the front stairs, past carriages, and along the dark streets as fast as her legs could carry her. Behind her, Martin followed, matching her speed and demanding answers. She couldn’t explain. But she knew where Talbot would have gone. She slammed into the front door of her daughter’s home, intending to knock until someone answered, but fell through onto the floor instead as it opened. Horrified the door had been left unlocked tonight of all nights, she caught her breath and then hurried inside. “Mrs. Hughes. Mrs. Blake. Where are you?”

A muffled scream replied and she hurried in the direction of her daughter’s room.

A candle was lit in that room and Iris pressed her hand to her chest as she took in the scene before her.

Talbot was on his belly, bound hand and foot, a white cloth stuffed into his mouth to muffle his screams for help.

Mrs. Blake stood between him and the baby, a trickle of blood sliding down her cheek as she glared at the man, while Mrs. Hughes brought up the rear, brandishing a candlestick holder and apparently whole and unharmed.

“Thank heavens you stopped him.” She checked Mrs. Blake’s wound immediately but did not think it serious.

“No one’s touching our girl,” Mrs. Blake declared as she leaned forward and tugged the cloth from Talbot’s mouth. A dirty infant cloth, if Iris was not mistaken. “That should teach you not to upset the little one.”

“Do you know these mad women?” Talbot spat and spat. “Release me!”

“I think not.” Iris crouched low, noticing the spill of gems flowing from his coat pocket and onto the carpet rug. “How dare you attempt to harm an innocent child?”

He snarled, fighting his bonds. “Ungrateful bitch.”

“Ungrateful?” Iris regained her feet. “What did you ever do for anyone but terrify and steal from them?”

Meriwether stumbled through the door, gasping. He spared a glance for the man on the floor and grinned. “My God, you were fleet-footed, my lady. Almost lost sight of you.”

“Well, I had something of value to protect.” She glanced at Martin and noted his unnatural pallor. His chest heaved and he gave her the strangest look. Iris took a peek at the wicker perambulator behind Mrs. Hughes. Violet was wide awake and appeared on the verge of tears. She picked up the child and cuddled her against her shoulder to calm her. “It’s all right, my darling. The bad man won’t hurt you.”

She patted Violet’s bottom softly and hummed to her. Everything would be all right now. She gestured to the man on the floor. “You’ll most likely find Lord Acton’s gems in Talbot’s coat pocket, Mr. Meriwether.”

Talbot protested, but Meriwether searched him thoroughly and then jammed the dirty cloth back into his mouth when he wouldn’t shut up. He spread the gems across the nearest uncluttered surface. “When did you realize he’d tricked us?”

“As many newly engaged women are prone to do, Miss Quartermane described Lord Acton’s proposal down to the smallest detail to everyone she met. When Acton cried out he’d been robbed, I thought Talbot’s behavior extremely unconcerned. Everyone else was shouting but he was playing with something in his coat pocket. I suspected him immediately, and even more so when he jumped from the window and ran away.”

Meriwether smiled and glanced about. “I am very glad I confided in you, Lady Louth. You’ve proven invaluable in apprehending a dangerous man. How did you know he’d come here?”

Iris kissed her daughter. “We received a note threatening harm to those I love, but my husband did not mention the incident to me until tonight. I had to be sure Violet was safe but to my considerable relief, our staff had already apprehended Talbot. They were very brave indeed to attempt it.”

Meriwether threw a questioning glance at her husband, who’d said nothing so far but lurked in the background. To be honest, Martin looked to be in shock.

Acton arrived, out of breath and anxious.

Iris passed Violet to Mrs. Blake. Then turned to Meriwether, “If you wouldn’t mind removing that filth from the room, we’d much appreciate it. The child needs to rest.”

“Yes, my lady.” Meriwether untied Talbot’s feet and hauled him upright. “I know just where to take him too.”

The gems on the table winked in the candlelight and Acton quickly went to collect them, checking carefully that none had been damaged. One, a small cut emerald, had fallen loose from its setting and been thrown wide in the apparent struggle with Mrs. Blake. Iris bent to pick it up and returned it to its rightful owner. “One last treasure for your collection.”

“Thank heavens.” Acton held it up to the light and assessed the stone. “The one I was looking for most of all. Thank you.”

“It’s very pretty.” Iris didn’t think the gem very valuable but the earl placed it in his waistcoat pocket securely and tied the rest into a white handkerchief.

He bowed and made his way to the door.

When they were gone, Iris turned to face the staff. Mrs. Blake appeared triumphant but Mrs. Hughes was pale with shock. She slowly crumpled to the floor, shaking her head. “I’m too old for any more shocks. What a terrible man. What a dreadful night.”

“He truly is.” Iris knelt at her side and caught the housekeeper’s cold hands in hers. “Perhaps it’s time you married your nice gentleman.”

A tear slipped down her cheek. “I’d like that.”

“Good. Shall I have Mr. Cooper sent for immediately?”

“Thank you, my lady. I don’t know what I’d have done without Martha. He would have murdered us to get to the little one.”

“We are lucky to have found Mrs. Blake.” Iris helped Mrs. Hughes to her feet and sent her toward the kitchens for the comfort of a strong cup of tea laced with brandy.

She faced her husband at last.

He searched her face. “I’m so sorry.”

“Never mind that now.” She grasped the handle of the perambulator and maneuvered it toward him. “We’d like to go home, if you don’t mind. Holly House is a safer situation for the girl.”

Twenty-Six

“I like the name you chose for my daughter,” Martin murmured as he allowed Iris to precede him down the front steps of his daughter’s Pollen Street home and then set the baby and rolling contraption at her feet. “It seemed so important but I couldn’t decide.”

“I’m glad you approve,” she murmured, hovering over the sleepy child.

Violet had settled down for sleep soon after Talbot had been taken away for further questioning, and he was anxious to take her and his wife where they’d be safe.

Iris started pushing the perambulator while the wet-nurse hurried ahead with some of the child’s possessions tucked under her arms. “It will dawn soon.”

“Yes, the sun is just rising,” she agreed, glancing about her calmly as if their whole marriage hadn’t been turned on its head.

Martin was anything but calm and he was impressed with Iris’s confidence with his daughter. She knew what she was doing with a child and had made him feel decidedly clumsy around his daughter in the nursery. She even showed up Mrs. Hughes, too, although he wouldn’t dare mention that out loud. Not after the help she’d already given him.

She was obviously waiting for him to speak on the matter of him having a child but he didn’t know how to start.

“Mrs. Hughes was out of her depth and this scare will be too much for her to continue as housekeeper,” Iris murmured as the distance grew between them and Pollen Street.

He sighed. “I know, but she was all I had since I learned about the child’s existence and Vivian Rose’s death.”

Iris glanced up at him. “You must have been very shocked.”

“On so many levels.”

“When did you learn of Violet?”

“The morning you started asking questions about intimacy.” He guided Iris across the quiet street. “I hadn’t spoken with Vivian in many months. We fell out of sorts with each other and hadn’t spoken since. I didn’t know about the pregnancy. I didn’t know Vivian had died until Mrs. Hughes sent for me and presented me with my daughter.”

“That’s a terrible way to find out.” Iris shook her head. “She’s very like you.”

“Do you think so?” He smiled proudly, glancing into the basket where his daughter lay sleeping without a care or concern to trouble her. “I hoped I wasn’t imagining the resemblance.”

Iris stopped. “You took the housekeeper at her word that the child was yours without any proof?”

“What else should I have done? Abandoned the babe to an orphanage and washed my hands of the matter? The timing was right. She was my mistress and I was not always careful enough in her bed. Vivian had one protector after me but the child doesn’t resemble him in the slightest. Looking after her was the only choice I had. Vivian had no family and no responsible friends to turn to.”

He glanced around but they were entirely alone. “I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you myself. I’ve been trying to find the courage to mention her existence. I’m sure it changes how you think of my character but if things had been different, if I had known before the birth, I likely would have married Vivian so our child would not be burdened with the stigma of illegitimacy. That is why I was so adamant you not become a mistress. How did you find out about her?”

Iris was silent at that and Martin feared he’d shared too much of his personal life for her comfort. Unfortunately, he’d gotten into the habit of confiding in her and found it hard to hold back anymore. She moved on and he noting how calm she appeared pushing his daughter home. He’d expected an argument. Anger. Even tears.

“I’ve known about the babe since before our marriage. Esme took me to see her.”

“What had Lady Heathcote intended by taking you to see my daughter? Can I expect to read of the scandal of my daughter’s existence in the newssheets?”

“No.” She touched his arm. “Esme would never do that to anyone she liked. She just… She wanted me to have all the facts about you.”

“And how do you feel about that? Are you upset that I didn’t tell you before we married?”

“No. I made the decision to marry you knowing all about her existence. I’ve no regrets in having you as a husband. We fit, my lord.”

“Good.” He stopped. “Iris, I have a question to ask you and I hope you will not mind my urgency. Under the circumstances, it cannot wait.”

She smiled up at him. “I promise I won’t tell a soul about your daughter if you insist. I’m sure Acton and Meriwether will keep it quiet and understand that a man in your position has a lot to lose, and there is Whitney to consider. She might not want to marry at the moment but the stings and barbs of association will taint the way she is treated. I know all about how unfair society can be firsthand.”

“I don’t want to pretend she doesn’t exist.” He sighed. “Do you want to be her mother? I can see you care for her already and I know I can never make it up to her for the way she’ll be treated. You’ve made some good decisions regarding her care and I would like to ask for more. I want her to live with us but I’d rather not have your name dragged through the scandal rags because of her.”