Ghost of Christmas Past (10 page)

With a
sigh, he mentally ran through his plan and eased himself upright
enough so that he could reach the bedside table. He sighed when he
found paper but no quill and ink. With a shake of his head he
leaned over and yanked the bell pull hard before he lay back down
to wait for Argus. Just the small task of tugging on a piece of
cord was enough to make him tremble and he cursed bitterly at the
ridiculous weakness that plagued him. He wasn’t steady enough now
to write, but his butler could.

As if by
magic, a discrete knock on the door heralded the arrival of his
butler, who looked slightly agog at the determination on his
master’s face.

“
Argus, get the quill and ink and come and sit down for a
minute. I have a note that I want you to dispatch as a matter of
urgency.” He glared at the butler who stood motionless for a
moment. “Now that the blasted laudanum is wearing off, I will warn
you that if you give me any of that stuff again I will throw you
out on your ear. Meantime, hurry up and get that quill and ink. Oh,
and some fruit cake if you have it, I am starving.”

Argus
blinked owlishly at him for a moment before he lurched into action
and hurried across the room to carry out his orders. He was at the
door when John’s next words broke the silence.

“
Argus? Under no circumstances do you tell anyone, not even my
niece, that I am as well as I am. Do you hear me?” John smiled at
the look of confusion on Argus’ face but made no attempt to
explain. If Argus did as instructed, phase two of his carefully
laid plans would come to fruition too. Satisfied that things were
going well, he lay back against the plush pillows to
wait.

CHAPTER
SIX

“
Thea? Are you
alright?” Rupert’s husky rumble at her elbow made her jump. She had
spent most of the afternoon catching up on her lost sleep and still
felt slightly fogged, but that feeling vanished in an instant when
she caught sight of Rupert standing tall and resplendent beside
her.

Bathed
in the soft glow of the candle-light, the rather intimate
atmosphere of the small sitting room seemed to thicken around them.
Her heart began to hammer in her throat as she looked at him. He
cut an elegant figure in his evening jacket, neatly starched cravat
and dark breeches, topped by his hessians and she wondered for a
moment if she had misheard his earlier suggestion that they should
eat in the sitting room.

“
I am sorry, I was just thinking,” she replied
softly.

“
You were miles away,” Rupert smiled. “Tired still from the
journey?”

“
I am perfectly rested right now. I was just thinking how
unusual it is to be in the centre of such a large city yet not hear
a sound.”

“
It is because the house is huge and set back from the road,”
he explained. Whatever else he had intended to say was interrupted
by Argus, who appeared in the doorway to announce that dinner was
ready.

“
Shall we?” Although the table was a few feet away, he still
held out his elbow for her and was pleased when Thea took it and
allowed him to seat her.

Earlier,
Rupert had asked Argus to ensure that the shutters were closed and
the curtains drawn to protect them from prying eyes. Unfortunately,
it gave the room an incredibly quiet and intimate feel that seemed
to embrace them. It made him feel as though they were the only two
people in the world. Now that he came to think about it, the only
sounds that could be heard were the distant chinking of the
crockery that was being used to prepare their evening meal and the
rhythmic tick of the clock on the mantle. It was quiet, and he
couldn’t quite decide whether that was a good thing or
not.

“
Have you been to check on your uncle?”

“
Yes, I dropped in on my way down here but he was fast asleep
again.” She settled her napkin in her lap and sat back to watch
Argus deposit a heavily laden tray on the dresser beside the door.
Rupert charged their wine glasses while Argus served the first
course while Thea revelled in the attentions of both
men.

Once
Argus had left, Thea and Rupert ate in companionable silence for
several moments. Rupert struggled to find a way of broaching the
subjects they needed to discuss. A small part of him warned him
that it was too soon in their acquaintance to resurrect the past
but they couldn’t move forward until they had answered each other’s
questions.

“
Tell me something?” Thea requested quietly as soon as their
bowls had been emptied.

“
Anything. I hope you know that you can discuss anything with
me and I shan’t be offended.”

“
Who do you think shot Uncle John, and why?”

Rupert
pursed his lips and placed his wine back on the table beside her
hand. He placed his hand upon hers and gave it a squeeze as he
studied her.

“
Have you ever heard of the Star Elite?” He was unsurprised
when Thea shook her head. She had been in the wilds of
Leicestershire and, besides, there were some parties in the upper
echelons of Government who had never heard of the secret
organisation within the War Office who fought to protect the
innocent.

“
They are a secret organisation of mainly ex-soldiers who work
to protect England’s borders from French spies and the like. They
work mainly for the War Office but, now that the war is all but
over, are starting to branch out into different areas and tackle
more general crimes within society.” Rupert sighed and took a sip
of his wine. He knew that it was now or never and motioned for
Argus to clear the table.

Once the
butler had left to fetch the next course, Rupert leaned forward in
his seat. “When I left Bainbridge after the accident, I went
slightly off the rails so to speak.” His lips twisted wryly but
there was no accusation in his voice, he was merely relaying facts.
It felt strange now that he was sitting opposite her that he could
look back on that difficult time with a distance that seemed to
confirm that he was a different person now.

Thea’s
heart began to hammer in her throat and the soup that had tasted
wonderful moments earlier now sat heavily in her churning stomach.
“Rupert -”

“
No, just hear me out, Thea. There is much I need to say, and
things that you need to know.”

She had
little choice but do as he requested. To refuse to discuss matters
with him would get neither of them anywhere.

“
I couldn’t stand the thought of going back to Bainbridge when
you made it clear that you didn’t want to see me. Not only did I
not want father to try to pressure me into another arranged
marriage, but I didn’t want your mother constantly harping on and I
just couldn’t face the endless questions about you and me, and us.
You had made it clear that you never wished to see me again and I
just buckled under the pressure of everything. In spite of it all,
I really did want to marry you, Thea. I want you to know
that.”

Words
tumbled through her but she couldn’t put them into any semblance of
order. Instead, she did as he had asked her to do and remained
quiet while he explained what had happened.

“
I refused to return to Bainbridge, and instead bought a
commission for the army. I have fought in the war but got injured.”
He smiled at her startled gasp. “It wasn’t much but while I was out
of action I was ordered to bring some important papers back to
London. While I was here I got conscripted into a secret
organisation called the Star Elite.”

“
Good Lord,” she whispered.

“
Quite. I have worked on many investigations since and while I
enjoy it, the work is often arduous and dangerous.”

Thea
gasped and stared at him in consternation. “You don’t think that
the gunman had been aiming at you, do you?” The horror in her voice
made him smile in spite of the dangers of the situation.

“
I think he might have followed me back here, yes. However,”
he lifted a hand and sat back when Argus returned. Silence settled
over them while the ever efficient butler carefully served the fish
course and poured the wine before he retreated to his position
beside the door again.

“
If you could give us a few moments, Argus,” Rupert sighed and
waited until the butler closed the door behind him to return to the
conversation.

“
That’s what you do now? Work for the Star Elite?” She
couldn’t keep the astonishment out of her voice.

“
It is, yes. But it is dangerous and I cannot be certain that
I wasn’t followed here and the gunman wasn’t waiting outside for me
to leave. Your uncle may have just been in the wrong place at the
wrong time, Thea. Unfortunately, now that I have been seen here,
you and your uncle are at risk because you are now associated with
me.”

“
Good Lord,” she whispered and winced as she realised that she
had already said it.

“
Quite,” Rupert smiled but didn’t mention her faux pas. “One
of my colleagues from the Star Elite is here to help to protect the
house and the people in it. He is doing the rounds right now. I
will introduce you to Marcus later but, just in case you meet him
before then, he is a tall man with chestnut hair and dark green
eyes. He has a cut on his chin just here,” he pointed to a spot
right on the edge of his chin. “Don’t ask him how he did it. He
gets a little testy when he has to explain that he was bested by a
ten year old one dark and stormy night.”

Thea
smiled and glanced up at a loud cough that came from the doorway.
“He was eleven, it was pitch-black and I had been up all night,”
the tall man growled from his position just inside the doorway. He
gave Rupert a mock frown before he smiled at Thea.

“
Makes all the difference,” Rupert replied blandly and pushed
away from the table to make introductions.

Thea
smiled when Marcus bowed toward her. “My lady,” he drawled but lost
the effect when he grinned and winked at her.

Rupert
rolled his eyes. “Just ignore him. We have him around for the
laughter.”

“
I am going to do my rounds,” Marcus replied and glanced
around them. “I heard voices. Any good operative would check them
out. Now that I have found you, I shall leave you to your meal.”
With that he bowed and vanished as quickly as he had arrived. Thea
watched the door close silently beside him and turned to resume her
seat.

“
He wasn’t what I was expecting.”

Rupert
lifted his brows and waited. Thea realised he wanted an explanation
and sought to find one without offending him.

“
You are strong and carry an air of authority about you that
appears stern yet very capable. There is a quiet confidence about
you now, as though you are comfortable in your own skin and don’t
care what anyone thinks, that wasn’t there when I knew you before.
Oh, I know that sounds ridiculous really but, given what you have
just said about your work being dangerous and all, I just thought,
well –”

“
That we were all dangerous,” he finished gently for her when
she lapsed into uncomfortable silence. “We are still men,
Thea.”

“
I know, I am sorry. I didn’t mean to sound offensive. It is
just that what you have said about your work seems to fit who you
are now. I don’t mean that in any derogative way,” she said and
lapsed into silence.

“
You weren’t offensive, Thea. However, the work with the Star
Elite is what we do, it is not who we are.”

Thea
realised then that there was a lot she didn’t know about this man
seated opposite. Once again the questions tumbled through her and
she didn’t know which one to ask first.

He
seemed to sense her disquiet. “Penny for them,” he murmured
softly.

Thea
glanced up at him. Their eyes met and held. A wealth of hidden
meaning hovered over them but neither were willing to break the
moment.

“
They aren’t worth that much,” she replied with a sigh. “Can I
ask you some questions?”

He
mentally cheered, took a sip of his wine and sat back in his chair.
“Please do,” he growled huskily, delighted that she was interested
in him, and what had happened to him.

“
How long have you been with the Star Elite?”

“
About three years now all in all,” he replied
gently.

The soft
smile on his lips made her wonder if he really was reading her mind
with those far too probing beautiful green eyes, but she
immediately discounted the possibility as ridiculous.

“
How long are you going to be in London for?” She had to ask.
She wanted to say that she wanted to know for John’s sake, but that
would be a lie. Every part of her was locked on his answer and she
made no attempt to pick up her knife and fork to eat. Then again,
neither did he. He placed his hand over hers as it rested on the
table and locked fingers with her.

“
I am going to be honest with you, Thea. I am going to stay
here for as long as you are here. However, I do have my work with
the Star Elite to do. Right now we are tasked with finding out who
shot your uncle. We need to establish if the bullet was meant for
me.”

“
What do you think? I mean, do you think they intended to
shoot him, or you?” She just had to know what Rupert had been up to
that would make anyone want him dead.