Lord Melvedere's Ghost (12 page)

But that was the cool arrogance of someone like him,
Cecily reminded herself sternly. After all, he had
a job to do, and there was clearly no room for sentiment in
carrying out the work of the Star Elite.

“
So what does my father have to do with it?” Cecily’s voice was
cool and smooth yet held a steely hint of determination that wasn’t
lost on Jamie.

He
sighed and turned toward her. “I cannot go into too much
detail.”

Cecily
rolled her eyes and snorted in disgust. “You have dragged me half
way across the country to –” she glanced around the wooded glade
askance, “where the hell are we?”

“
On the Cumbrian border,” Jamie replied with a wary
smile.

“
I get shot at, threatened by French assassins, dressed up,
scared witless and now held in a house in the middle of nowhere,
miles away from everything I hold dear, and you tell me that you
cannot tell me why?”

“
Look, I am not saying that I cannot tell you what you want to
know, but I cannot tell you all of it,” Jamie reasoned, pushing to
his feet.

It
wasn’t lost on him that she looked stunning. Despite her masculine
attire, her long legs were encased lovingly in the smooth material
that outlined her feminine curves to perfection. The afternoon
sunshine had brought a delicate glow to her features that made him
want to touch her, just to see if she was real. He sighed, and
tried to think of what he could actually tell her without raising
her ire.

“
I think we need to go somewhere where we can talk without the
risk of people overhearing us,” Jamie murmured, moving toward the
pathway that ran back to the house. “There is a change of clothing
on the bed in your room. When you have changed, and had something
to eat, come down to the study and I will answer your questions.”
He paused, clearly waiting for Cecily to precede him along the
path.

“
Fine,” Cecily snapped, knowing she was being rude and
churlish. She stomped down the path like a general leading an army,
marching resolutely toward the house with the determination of an
avenging angel. Jamie mentally shook his head as his eyes scanned
the lawns around them. Although he was fairly certain they had
gotten away from the house without being seen, he had learnt
through his work with the Star Elite that it was never good to take
too many things for granted. He couldn’t lose sight of the fact
that there was only him and Jonathan to protect her. That thought
didn’t sit very well with him but, for the time being at least,
there was nothing he could do about it.

As they
walked to the house, Cecily caught sight of a shadowy figure
standing in the window of one of the rooms. The shadows within the
room made it impossible to identify who it was, but Cecily lifted
her hand in greeting anyway only to mentally shrug when the person
merely turned away from the window.

“
Don’t worry, Miss Emstridge is a little odd, but you will get
used to her.”

“
I don’t plan to be here that long,” she replied pointedly,
branching off the lawn toward the kitchen door. “I won’t be
long.”

She
didn’t wait to see if Jamie was following her. She was determined
that she would get the answers she needed before deciding for
herself what her future was going to be like. But, despite her best
efforts, she couldn’t ignore the tiny voice deep inside her that
warned her that her pathway was going to be completely different,
and far more difficult, than her sisters.

CHAPTER SIX

Cecily
walked into the study an hour later feeling significantly more like
herself. It felt strangely familiar being back in a dress and she
revelled in feeling the silken material of the pretty day dress
swirling around her legs while she walked. Although the breeches
had been comfortable, there was nothing like the freedom of having
loose fitting clothing that allowed her to be a true
female.

She was
also glad of the opportunity to get rid of the dusty and smelly
clothes but had carefully folded them to wash out later rather than
throw them away. For now though, she had questions to ask, and she
wasn’t going to leave the study until she had answers.

Standing
at the doorway to the study, she heard the quiet click of a door
further along the corridor and turned, expecting to see someone
beside her. The presence of someone else in the wide hallway was
profound and she was slightly shaken to find herself alone. Shaking
her head at the strange feelings the house seemed to invoke, she
pushed open the door without bothering to knock.

Jamie
was sitting behind a wide, highly polished desk, a huge pile of
parchment sitting at his elbow. His hair was endearingly rumpled
having clearly had his fingers running through it on numerous
occasions. She hid a smile as she watched the unconscious gesture
that settled the tumble of hair on his head in disarray, giving him
a rather studious look.

Sensing
another person present, Jamie glanced up and froze. He had ordered
Mrs Nantwich to purchase several dresses, and whatever female
paraphernalia Cecily would need for her stay, but the last thing he
had expected to be available in the town was the graciously elegant
day dress Cecily wore with such stunning effect.

Her wild
tumble of curls had been elegantly confined into a knot on the top
of her head with only a few wisps allowed to lovely curl around her
unblemished complexion. The small blue flowers on her dress
emphasised, with startling clarity, the cool blue of her eyes and
together, the combination made her simply captivating.

Pushing
to his feet Jamie coughed uncomfortably and waved a vague hand
toward the hearth chairs.

“
Take a seat while I will ring for some refreshments.” He had
no idea where the awkwardness was coming from, but he needed a few
precious moments to gather his scattered wits. The sight of her
dressed in modest refinery was simply staggering. He found himself
wondering what she would look like bedecked in the most expensive
clothing available, lavishly embellished with the bucket load of
jewels currently secreted in his safe. He wondered if he would be
able to withstand the sight of her looking so glorious, let alone
be brave enough to allow her out into society looking so
ravishingly beautiful.

She
looked to damned right sitting gracefully in the chair beside the
hearth, with Basil at her feet, that he knew the elegance was
inherent to her. It wasn’t a show, it was merely who she was. Only
she didn’t seem to realise it, or, if she did, didn’t care to allow
it to affect her approach toward life. He mentally cursed her
father for restricting such a beauty with his sheer heartlessness,
and felt a surge of protectiveness toward her that was far beyond
his usual feelings toward women.

He had
always been raised to respect women; they needed looking after
because they were the weaker sex. Somehow, Cecily seemed to throw
that learning on its head. She had endured more than some of his
friends could ever consider possible, and had withstood harshness
without a murmur of complaint. He realised then just how easy she
had made his job of getting her to Melvedere.

Now all
he had to do, was give her the information she needed while
protecting the secrets of the country and the Star Elite, while not
tripping himself up and revealing his future intentions for her –
them – far too soon.

Not much
expected of him then.

He
sauntered slowly across the room and dropped into a chair opposite,
leaning back in his seat and bracing one ankle on his knee while
considered where to start.

“
I want to know how long I am going to be here,” Cecily began,
meeting his watchful look with a boldness that hid her inner
turmoil.

She felt
as though she was being scrutinised, judged, assessed, and didn’t
like it one bit. If only she knew what was going on behind those
cool grey eyes of his. But she couldn’t ask. She didn’t want him to
know how much of an affect he had on her. His opinion of her didn’t
really matter after all. As soon as his job was done, she would be
released and allowed to go on her way; wherever that
was.

“
However long it takes us to get the next part of the mission
done.”

“
That is?”

Sighing
deeply, Jamie steepled his fingers and considered for a moment. “We
need to give Portia and Archie time to reach their destination.” He
lifted a finger when she took a breath to ask. “No, I don’t know
where they are going before you ask. Because of what happened to
us, I can only assume that Archie may have taken matters into his
own hands and headed in a different direction to the one planned in
order to keep them safe. Until he sends word of his location to my
boss, there is nothing we can do but sit and wait. I don’t know how
long it will take but, believe me when I say that Archie will do
everything in his power to keep Portia alive. We just have to be
patient.”

“
But I cannot just sit here and do nothing!” Cecily protested,
pushing out of her chair and walking toward the dog. Without
thinking, she picked up the tongues and lifted Basil’s tail away
from the edge of the fire before dropping the tongues back into the
pot beside her.

“
There is nothing else we can do for now. I have sent word to
my boss that we have arrived here safe and sound, so when he hears
anything, he knows where to get hold of us. You are already aware
that think there may be someone who is, shall we say, less than
honest within the Star Elite but, until we can find out who that
person is, there is little we can do except be extremely cautious
who we send notes to, and how.”

“
So there is nothing else we can do?”

“
Except eat, drink and be merry? No, I am afraid there isn’t
right now,” Jamie sighed, wishing he could tell her everything. He
couldn’t lose sight of the fact that her father could very well be
up to his ears in financing the French spies and, as such, Jamie
had no idea how much Cecily or Portia knew of their father’s
actions.

“
I need to ask you some questions, Cecily, and I want you to
think carefully about your answers.” His voice dipped with
seriousness and he levelled a steely stare at her, urging her to
sit down.

Cecily
narrowed her eyes and met his stare with her own, defiantly
standing where she was. “Go on.”

“
Is your father a particularly wealthy man?”

Cecily
stared at him. “I think he has more wealth than he has ever
bestowed upon us if that is what you want to know. He was frugal to
say the least and, although he provided for us, he spent as little
as he could get away with. We survived, that is about all I can
say.”

“
Yet your father worked long hours and had close business
connections with a lot of people,” he named several of the names
they knew were involved in handling smuggled goods.

“
Yes, those are the ones, how do you know?”

Jamie
smiled secretively. “I don’t suppose you were ever in a position to
overhear any of their conversations?”

Cecily
shook her head. “Our father hated us. We were there to look after
him, not the other way around. We had our place and had to stay
there. In the kitchens, or our rooms, it didn’t matter to him as
long as we kept out of his way when he was entertaining his
colleagues. When they came around, we were always called upon for
refreshments and banished from the room. So to answer your
question, no, I wasn’t confided in or included in any of my
father’s personal or business dealings.”

Jamie
nodded and heaved a huge sigh of relief. He knew from the look on
her face that she was being honest with him and he was so very glad
of that. Mentally discounting her guilt, Jamie glanced at his feet
thoughtfully before deciding on another tack.

“
Did you go into your father’s study much?”

Cecily
frowned and studied him for several long thoughtful moments, before
mentally shrugging. She could see no reason not to tell him what he
wanted to know. “A few times but only when we delivered trays of
food. We weren’t allowed in there much. I know Portia went in by
herself a few times, mainly just to be able to defy him, but I had
to carry on with the jobs. If we didn’t get things done on time,
father would become spiteful and shout a lot.”

“
What was Portia looking for?”

“
Money,” Cecily sighed. “We knew he had more than he was
sharing with us. Usually when he went out, he locked the door to
his study, and he had the only key – or so he thought. Portia found
a key in the kitchens and used it to get in and out. We helped
ourselves to his money a few times, but only a few pennies you
understand, nothing of great significance.”

“
You should have taken more,” Jamie sighed. He couldn’t help
but regret the fact that they hadn’t helped themselves to more of
the miserly old man’s despicable wealth. At least someone worthy
would have had the benefit of it.

Cecily
smiled, feeling not the least embarrassed for her
confession.

“
Do you think he wanted to sell you into marriage to his
friends because there was money in it for him, or do you think it
was designed to secure his business connections?”