Games of Pleasure (37 page)

Dillard's mouth worked. “I'm not the first man to make a few bad judgments.”

“And you won't be the last. There's only one part of this story that really stinks to high heaven, and I could beat you into a damned pulp over it.”

The damp head jerked up. Dillard's eyes were still rimmed in scarlet, but he was halfway to being sober. “What the hell do you mean?”

Ryder leaned forward. “Your sister's savings. You embezzled them, didn't you? You lost all of Miracle's money, as well as your own.”

The towel crushed beneath clenched fingers. “How the devil did you guess that?”

“Because I'd probably have done it, too—grasped at any straw, however dishonorable—before I saw my children starve.”

Miracle's brother stared up in silence for several moments, breathing hard. “I only borrowed it, little by little,” he said at last. “I promised myself that when things came right again, I'd pay her back with interest. I never meant—”

“Yet it's gone.” Ryder pushed away to stalk about the kitchen, opening jars and boxes.

Dillard stood up and tossed down the towel. “You won't find any tea or coffee, my lord. Cook took it all in lieu of her unpaid wages.”

Ryder glanced back at him. “You might have mentioned that before I filled the kettle. Never mind! I need to know about a bag that Miracle sent here for safekeeping. A Mr. George Melman delivered it.”

Dillard flushed and bit his lip. “I don't have it.”

In one stride Ryder held Miracle's brother by the throat. “Did you steal that from your sister, as well?”

“I'm facing ruin! So, yes, I took a quick look inside, but though I was tempted to sell the jewels, I didn't!”

“Though you no longer have it? What happened?”

“Patrick O'Neill barged in just as Melman arrived. He'd probably been watching the house. He grabbed the bag and tipped the contents onto the hall table.”

“This O'Neill is one of your creditors?”

Dillard nodded. “He took the jewelry, though he said it still wasn't enough to settle my debts.”

“And the other things?”

“I thought the bailiffs would seize all of Mirry's things along with mine. So I asked Mr. Melman to keep the rest safe until sent for.”

“Then you did cling to a modicum of honor. Did Melman leave an address?”

“He's a traveling preacher. He went north toward Lancashire and said he'd get in touch later.”

Unable to stop himself, Ryder laughed. “Then I ask only one thing of you now, Mr. Heather: Your sister is not to know any of this.”

“If she asks me about the jewelry, I don't see how I can keep it from her.”

“Tell her the truth about Melman bringing the bag, but you're to screw your bloody mouth shut about losing the rest of her savings. Let her think that you had a spot of trouble, but now your investments have turned around.”

“But I can never pay her back!”

“Yes, you can. I'm going to make you a loan.”

Color flooded Dillard's face. He collapsed back into his chair. “A loan, my lord?”

“You heard me.”

Miracle's brother laid his head on the kitchen table and began to sob.

 

 

RYDER rubbed down his horses and left them in Dillard's stable, then he strode around Manchester like an avenging warrior angel. It took most of the morning.

The first item of business was to send a baker's boy to Dillard's house with a load of bread and buns and meat pies. A dairy maid took fresh milk, butter, and cheese. The grocer's lad brought apples and cabbages and potatoes, followed by packets of tea and coffee and chocolate. The butcher sent beef and sausages.

The children were to have a feast, courtesy of their aunt Miracle.

It took a little longer to visit banks and businessmen, but each of Dillard's creditors was flattered or cajoled or threatened, until he agreed to refinance. The mortgage on the house was transferred into Lord Ryderbourne's name, then paid off. Tradesmen, blacksmiths, leather suppliers, servants—everyone with a claim against Mr. Dillard Heather or his family—saw bills settled in cash. Only O'Neill was impossible to find. He had gone back to Ireland.

No doubt there was fraud buried in some of the transactions. No doubt some better bargains could have been struck, if Ryder had taken more time. Yet he didn't care what it cost. He only cared that Miracle never find out that her brother had betrayed her.

He found the governess through a ladies' employment agency. No, Miss Perkins had not yet found a new post. Yes, her references had always been excellent, but most families preferred a younger governess these days. It did not help, alas, that she had left her last employment in such haste.

Miss Perkins opened her door to reveal a shabby space brightened with brave touches of gentility. Quietly spoken, with soft, dark eyes, she was thrilled to return to the Heather family right away. His Lordship was most kind. She missed the children more than she could say. Though she allowed no hint of distress to pass her lips, it was obvious that Perky had been on the verge of destitution herself.

Ryder strode back into the more prosperous streets and stopped briefly opposite Dillard's place of business. The sign above the window was picked out in gold letters on black: DILLARD HEATHER, BOOT AND SHOE MAKER.

As soon as Hanley came here, he would track Miracle in an instant. Meanwhile, it was impossible for Ryder to keep his own presence and his interest in the Heather family a secret. He was the favored elder son of the Duke of Blackdown. Manchester had probably never before witnessed this much bowing and scraping.

By the time he returned to Dillard's house, it was late afternoon. Ryder knew a moment of real dread as he strode up to the front door. If the earl had already been here—

But his man was still on watch, and Miracle opened the door to smile at him. His heart leaped at the shine in her eyes.

“I'm prepared to wager that the only person who's not eaten yet is you,” she said.

He pulled her into his arms for a quick kiss. “How did you guess? No dramatic changes while I've been gone?”

“Nothing, except that a remarkable wave of cheer has been sweeping the household.”

“Thank God! The delay was more than a little unnerving.”

“Fiddlesticks! Now that she's eaten, Amanda would be more than a match for Lord Hanley.”

She led him through to the kitchen and set a hot meal in front of him. Ryder inhaled the savory steam—God, he was starving!—then glanced about. The room was spotless: crockery washed and put away, floor scoured, grate shiny with fresh blacking. Miracle's hands showed how hard she had worked.

“The elves have been busy while I've been gone,” he said.

“Always a good idea to have connections among the wee folk.” She sat opposite him and propped her chin on both fists. Dark waves framed her face. He yearned with sudden desperation for her to really give him her heart. “Miss Perkins came back and Dillard says his affairs are taking a turn for the better. Your doing, of course?”

“I'm making him a loan, that's all. His business is sound enough. It just needed a quick infusion of capital.”

Her mouth quirked and she looked down. “So he panicked over nothing?”

“If you like. I'll send my Mr. Davis from Wyldshay to advise him how to better manage his cash flow in future.”

Miracle turned her head to stare out at the bright summer afternoon beyond the small window. Her profile, as always, took away his breath.

“Dillard's wife, Mary, is expecting another baby in a few weeks. She slipped on the bedroom carpet four days ago and has been confined to her bed. Dillard is with her now, and Miss Perkins is taking care of the children in the nursery.”

“He told you about Mr. Melman?”

She nodded. “But everything else seemed so much more important.”

A slight noise in the doorway made her look up. Dillard walked in and laid a hand on Miracle's shoulder, then he sat down beside her.

“I'm sorry to entertain you in the kitchen, my lord. By tomorrow I'll be able to offer you both better hospitality.”

Ryder laid down his knife and fork. “I regret that pressing business takes us away this afternoon, sir. Miracle would like to recover her bag from Mr. Melman without further delay.”

Dillard pinned Ryder with a defiant glare, then he shook his head and bit his lip.

“Then another time, Mirry,” he said.

She put her arms about her brother and hugged him. “You won't be able to keep me away, sir.”

 

 

AMANDA woke up with a start. She choked back a sob, but then she remembered: Everything was going to be all right, after all. Perky sat snoring gently in the nursery armchair. Simon and Freddy and George were still asleep, after being put down for a nap. Aunt Miracle and the nice man who'd sent all that food had left, but a bright copper penny gleamed on the little table next to her bed. She'd eaten as many buns as she wanted and she'd been allowed to keep the penny, as well.

She wriggled into her dress and thrust the penny into her pinafore pocket.

Mama and Baby Charlotte were asleep, too. Papa had flung himself onto the chaise longue in Mama's bedroom. Snores rattled in his throat. He didn't wake up, even when she shook his shoulder. There weren't any servants yet, though Papa had said they'd have new maids and a cook by tomorrow.

So she alone was awake in the whole world. Amanda wandered about the house, looking into all the rooms, just in case.

When a staccato sound echoed from outside, she rushed into the front parlor to look out. A carriage! Perhaps Aunt Miracle and that nice man had come back already! She ran into the hall and tugged open the front door. Her heart thumped like a rocking horse. A carriage had stopped in front of the house.

She almost raced down the steps to meet him, but the man who stepped down wasn't Aunt Miracle's friend. Neither was it any of those nasty men who'd been coming to the house to shout at Papa. This newcomer was an absolute stranger.

He strode up to her and bent down. “This is the Heather household?”

Amanda stuck her finger in her mouth. She was suddenly afraid, so she clutched hard at her penny.

“Don't deny it, little miss! I had the directions from Mr. Miles, apprentice at your father's business.” He crouched lower and smiled. He had bright blue eyes and yellow hair, but she did not like his smile. “What do you have in your pocket, sweetheart? Something for good luck?”

“My new penny.” Amanda reached into her pocket to show him the protective power of the shiny copper coin. “My aunt Miracle gave it to me and made everything come right again. But she's gone away again now.”

“Hah! So she was here?”

Amanda nodded. “And her friend sent me all the buns that I wanted, and Perky came back, and Mama stopped crying.”

The stranger's mouth twisted and he straightened up. The dung sweeper boy was trundling his barrow up the street.

“How long ago did they leave?”

“Hours ago!” Amanda backed inside. “But you can't come in to make Papa ill again. And you won't catch my auntie and that nice man, either. They've gone to Lancashire to find their friend, Mr. Melman. I know, because I heard Papa tell Mama all about it. So you can go home right now and leave us all alone!”

The man laughed.

She slammed the door in his face. Boots rapped as the man walked away. A sudden cry scared her so badly that she sat down on the floor and closed her eyes, but at last hoofbeats echoed as the man's carriage trotted away up the street.

Amanda stared at her penny. It was the best good luck any little girl had ever had, better than a rabbit foot. It had made her so brave that she had chased away that bad man all by herself.

“I ASSUME THAT I'VE NO MONEY LEFT,” MIRACLE SAID. “DILLARD managed to lose all of my savings along with his own, didn't he?”

Ryder leaned back against the squabs. They had climbed into this larger carriage on the outskirts of Manchester, leaving the curricle behind. The coachman and groom had come down from Wrendale. Now, in the velvet dark of the August night, they were speeding north directly up the turnpike, with the groom discreetly asking after George Melman at every tollhouse.

“Why do you say that?” Ryder asked.

“Because if my brother hadn't already lost all of my money, he'd have asked me for a loan, instead of you. I didn't want to bring it up while we were still in Dillard's house, but that's what happened, isn't it?”

He frowned at her. “Perhaps. But he'll pay you back.”