Lord Melvedere's Ghost (27 page)

Turning
on her heel she stared hard at Jamie. “Does Portia
know?”

Jamie
shook his head. “Hugo hasn’t said as much, but I doubt it. Archie
will tell her as soon as Hugo can get word to him.”

“
Will my father hang?”

Jamie
stared at her and twisted his lips. “Probably, but I am not a
judge. His crimes are many, and involve acts of treason and that,
unfortunately, draw the severest punishment going.”

Cecily
turned back toward the window and stared blankly out at the
beautiful landscape. She saw little of the rolling hills and narrow
yellow ribbon of driveway. It had all seemed such a long time ago
when she had rolled down the drive on her arrival at Melvedere. So
much had happened in such a short space of time that she wasn’t
sure what to make of any of it.

“
Are you alright?”

Cecily
jumped. She hadn’t even heard him move. The weight of his hands on
her shoulders felt heavy and uncomfortable, and she shrugged them
off to move toward the fire.

Silence
settled between them for several moments.

“
Did Hugo say anything else?”

“
Nothing,” Jamie lied. Everything else Hugo said was Star Elite
business, and nothing he was at liberty to discuss with Cecily.
“Just that he is coming to ask you a few questions about your
father’s activities.”

Cecily spun on her heel and stared at him in horror.
“
I
didn’t have any
involvement in any of it!” She cried, horrified at the thought that
he should consider such a thing.

Jamie
held his hands in a placating gesture. “I know, darling. You only
have to look at the last few days to know that. Everything points
to your father, not you. We have seen enough of your house to know
that your father’s lifestyle and yours were completely different.
Your innocence is absolute.”

Cecily
still didn’t feel mollified and moved toward the fire. She felt
like Basil, and wanted to climb onto to hearth to absorb the heat
no matter which part of her got singed.

“
In most people’s eyes, I am guilty by association though.” Her
voice was dull and listless. She knew then that another door had
just closed on her. There was no possibility of going back to her
life in Tissington now. Not that she wanted to, but it just felt as
though her life was spiralling out of control and she had no way of
stopping it. She was also startlingly aware that her entire
wellbeing at that moment depended on Jamie. Without him, she had
absolutely nothing except for the clothing he had purchased for
her.

“
You are not guilty, and only the most foolhardy person would
ever consider you so. Besides, who is going to know of your
association to your father?”

“
Do you mean that this isn’t going to be all over the
broadsheets by morning?” Cecily scoffed angrily.

“
I can assure you that it isn’t,” Jamie announced firmly. “The
Star Elite don’t have a practice of announcing their activities to
anyone, least of all half of the country through the broadsheets.
This is going to be kept strictly confidential, even when the
operation is over and the spy ring has been closed down. There is
nobody who is going to find out about this, Cecily. Your father,
Portia, and you, are all going to disappear, and so will your
father’s colleagues. People will talk about where they might have
disappeared to, but the families of the men arrested will not want
to make their activities public either. They too will want to keep
their association to traitors a secret.”

Jamie
mentally winced at his choice of wording, and knew he had just made
matters a little bit harder for himself. For his part, he didn’t
care about Cecily’s father. There was little resemblance there
either in looks or behaviour. He had no doubt that none of the Star
Elite considered either Cecily, or Portia, involved in the
smuggling operation.

Cecily
looked at him and knew then what he secretly knew that anyone
related to a traitor would and should feel shame, like she did. But
that also drew a clear line down the middle of the room, with her
on one side and him on the other. She had little choice but to
spend the rest of her life knowing that her father had been hung
for treason. Jamie didn’t deserve to have his name tarnished by
being associated with her.

She
thought briefly of his offer of the Dowager’s house and knew that
even that was another door now closed to her, and all because of
her selfish and greedy father. She hated him with all of her might,
and wished him to Hades for what he had done to her, and Portia.
She mentally winced at the thought of Portia’s burgeoning
relationship with Archie, and wondered what this latest turn of
events would mean for their future. Archie was a decent man but he,
like Jamie, were putting their lives on the line to fight criminals
like their father. It was only right that they would have the
upmost contempt for their enemy.

Jamie
didn’t like the growing tension that hovered in the air. He wanted
to reassure her that people wouldn’t judge if they ever found out,
but he knew they would. He knew that Cecily and Portia were
completely innocent, but only because had investigated and had
access to the finer details. Other people wouldn’t have access to
so much privileged information.

“
Look Cecily, whatever your father is guilty of doesn’t make
you guilty too. Everyone I work with, everyone who has spent a long
time working on this mission, are fully aware of your innocence. We
don’t judge and condemn until we get the facts straight. It is
clear that your father’s actions have put the lives of both of his
daughters at risk. You are free to live the rest of your life as
you choose.”

“
I have no life now,” Cecily snapped, spinning on her heel to
stare at him. “I have nothing. I only have the clothing on my back,
which you purchased for me. I have nothing, Jamie,” she gasped,
furiously swiping at the tears on her face.

Jamie
wished he could argue, but she was right. By the time the Star
Elite had finished and the estate freed, any will would have to be
taken into account, and it was highly unlikely that Cecily, or
Portia, would be left with anything.

“
It isn’t really relevant, is it? The fact is that you are here
safe and sound, and here is where you are going to stay,” Jamie
announced firmly.

Cecily
turned to stare at him. A small part of her was fervently waiting,
hoping, that he would make some declaration of affection, anything
to show he cared. Instead he was perched on the end of the bed
discussing her future as though reading the headline news on a
broadsheet.

“
I can’t stay,” Cecily replied, shaking her head. She carried
on when Jamie took a breath to argue. Despite the fact that she was
crumbling inside, her back straightened and she turned to stare at
him. “I will stay until Hugo arrives to ask his questions but when
he goes, I will prevail upon his good nature to drop me off at the
nearest poor house. There is no option.”

“
What!”
Jamie shouted, lunging off the
bed. “The
hell
you
are!”

“
I have no choice,” Cecily shouted back, holding her arms
aloft. “You know what my father has done. I cannot stay under your
roof a moment longer than I have to. You don’t deserve to have your
name sullied by being associated with me.”

“
I will roll over in my own bloody grave before I stand back
and allow you to go to a poor house,” Jamie bit out. “Why the hell
is marriage to me so bloody offensive? I know you find me
appealing, your kisses attest to your interest in me. We get along
well enough. Melvedere is a big enough house for you to turn into
your own home, and there is more than ample room to accommodate any
children we might have. What could you possibly find so
objectionable?”

“
Nothing,” Cecily whispered, knowing with all of her heart that
if she had any other choice she would have remained with him until
the day she died. But she couldn’t be in a relationship with
someone who didn’t care about her as much as she cared about him.
Although he was kind and honourable, the knowledge that he had
spent years of his life fighting men like her father that
he
would be related to,
would be impossible to ignore. “There is nothing objectionable,
except for the fact that I am the daughter of one of England’s
biggest enemies. That and that alone, is enough to ensure that I
shall never marry you.”

Ignoring
his stunned look, she walked on trembling legs across the bedroom
and out of the door, not stopping until she had left the house
completely and was sitting in the pagoda at the far end of the
garden.

The
scent of honeysuckle was redolent in the air but, with her feelings
in so much turmoil, the gentle aroma it did little to soothe her
shattered emotions.

Jamie
followed her and watched her walk into the pagoda before moving
into his study. She looked so lost and forlorn that it was all he
could do not to go after her. He knew Jonathan, and his colleagues
were out there somewhere and would keep an eye on her, but he
needed to see for himself that she was safe.

Their
argument bothered him greatly and he knew now that he should have
withheld the information about her father until their relationship
was on a much firmer footing. But he had no idea how long it would
be before Hugo appeared, and Jamie had wanted to be the one to tell
Cecily about her father.

Now
though, having botched it, he was at a loss to find a way forward.
He was a planner, a deep thinker. Someone who analysed, assessed,
plotted and planned before doing anything. But this was an entirely
different matter altogether and he was wading through waters on
unsteady feet. He had no idea what he was doing, or where he was
going wrong.

Cecily
was averse to marrying him before news of her father, yet upstairs
she had given him her father’s treachery as an excuse. Was it just
that she didn’t care for him at all? Was the passion between them
purely desire, and not grounded on anything except carnal need? He
immediately dismissed that notion with an abrupt shake of his head.
Cecily was untried, not some wanton harlot. She may be intrigued,
but she wasn’t reckless.

Turning
his back on the window, he sat down at his desk so he could keep
one eye on her still sitting in the sunshine. Pushing the work
aside that was waiting for him, he turned his thoughts back to his
future, yet reluctant bride.

What
now?

CHAPTER
THIRTEEN

Cecily
spent hours in the pagoda fretting about Portia, herself, and
regretting her last words to Jamie. Although she meant them, she
felt guilty for her cruelty. He had been nothing but kind and
generous to her since, well, ever since meeting him for the very
first time at the Tissington ball. At least he hadn’t lied about
having feelings for her.

She was
fairly certain though that she did love him. Her stomach flipped
whenever she saw him, and the world seemed a much nicer place when
he was around. She missed him when she didn’t see him and that was
ridiculous because they were never apart from each other for more
than a couple of hours at a time.

If her
circumstances had been different, and she had not been related to a
traitor, then she would seriously have considered his offer, as
long it was accompanied by true and honest feelings of love.
Without that, they had nothing but a burning desire for each other
that seemed to keep getting stronger and stronger with each day
that she remained in his house. She could only hope that Hugo
wouldn’t take too long to get there so he could ask his questions,
and she could leave, preferably before she did something rash and
self defeating like allow Jamie to take whatever liberties he
wanted with her.

Until
Hugo did arrive, all she had to do was avoid Jamie. It shouldn’t be
all that difficult, could it?

Jamie
had other ideas. He eventually relented to the need to reduce some
of the paperwork on his desk and started to plough through the
parchments while keeping one eye on Cecily. He wondered if she was
hungry yet, or thirsty, or whether he should just go out there and
sit with her for a while. But she clearly needed to be
alone.

Hours
later, he was engrossed in one parchment and briefly glanced up,
jumping with surprise to find the pagoda empty. Dropping the
parchment on the smooth, glossy surface, he circled the desk and
studied the lawns. No sign of her. Racing to the door, he threw it
open and glared at Sophie, who was busy sweeping the
hallway.

“
Where did Cecily go?” He demanded with a dark scowl on his
face.

Sophie
jumped back in alarm and pointed up the stairs toward the guest
rooms. “I think she went to her room, sir.”

Jamie
stalked past her and took the stairs two at a time. He tried the
hallway door to her makeshift bedroom, but it was locked. Entering
his bedchamber, he stalked through his dressing room and tried the
handle, but that too was locked.

“
Cecily?” He knocked. “Cecily, open this door.” He knocked
again and waited. “At least growl, something, anything to let me
know you are alright.”