My Lord Rogue (5 page)

“
You give yourself little credit.
”

Percy and Lucien had been like brothers.
There was no easy way to tell him the truth
, but tell him she must
.
“
Lucien
barely escaped France with his life
, Percy
.
When
he arrived in England
, he was ruthlessly attacked
,
surviv
ing
only
long enough to confess
vital information
to me
.
Soon after
—
h
-h
e
—
I
fled
.
There was no time to bury him
before Napoleon’s men
gave chase
.”

Percy
grabbed
Gillian’s
wrist
once more
. This time his touch
lacked brutal strength. This time his touch was
gentle
, assuring
,
a
contrary
reaction
to
the way his throat bobb
ed as he swallowed
and his eyes blazed with
unbridled
anger
. “
You did what you had to do. Now
…
w
ere any
specifics
given
, dates, contacts?
”

“
Admiral
Nelson
.”

“Nelson?
” Percy asked momentarily speechless. He cleared his throat. “
Is that all?
”

She nodded
then shook her head
negatively
,
gathering her wits.
“Napoleon
wants
Nelson
dead. He’
s creating a fleet in the Channel
,
preparing to invade England.”
Her gaze settled on
Percy
’s
dark
brown eyes, stark against
his
powdered skin
. Emotions
she recognized all too well
— doubt, anger, horror —
flashed across his face
.
Some o
f
the
information was new. Lucien had paid a deadly price for it.
“The
Arm
è
e des c
ô
tes de l’Oc
è
an
will be active in two years.
Training for the attack against England has already
begun.”

His body tensed instantly and he inhaled a sharp breath.
“Where?”

“Boulogne, Bruges
,
and Montreuil.”

“
But Nelson’s fleet made a mockery of Boulogne. He lost one of his best protégés
t
here.”

“Things are not as they were months ago.”

“
Bloody hell!”
He cast
an
irritated
glance to
ward
the stage
then turned back to her
. “
T
hat isn’t the worst of it
, is it?
”

”No, it’s not,” she said
, summoning her inner strength
.
“
I
arranged to meet you
here
because
Napoleon has sent
his secret service
to assassinate Admiral Nelson
—
tonight
—
before Nelson’s Tea
can be activated
.”

Percy’s brow cocked at an odd angle and his stare turned abruptly cold.
“
What do you know
about Nelson’s Tea?”

“Lucien was many thi
ngs, but
not
an imbe
cile. He knew you, of all people, woul
d be involved in
Simon
’s plans.” She allowed a nostalgic smile. “My husband
counted you as one of his many trusted friends. He sent me to you, Percy.
He sent me knowing the danger
it
put me in, both body and soul.
”

“
If what you say is true,
Danbury
must
be told
.”

“
Yes
, of course,” she agreed.
“The opera has just begun.
Nelson hasn’t
yet
arrived.
You have
time
to warn him
.
My one request is that you
w
ait
to leave this box
until I am gone.
”

Percy grabbed both of Gillian’s hands.
“We don’t have time for theatrics.”
His touch, while gentler than before,
allowed no
escape. “No one is
suggesting that you
face
Danbury
alone, m’dear
.”
He paused. “
W
hether you like it or not
, y
ou need a protector now.”

She did
need a protector.
The
gens
d’armes
were
after he
r, but she couldn’t tell Percy that
. Good God!
She couldn’t endanger him.

Her
freedom
torn right out from under her, she was
more afraid
now
than she’d ever been. Lucien
had
given her life
purpose. What now? How would she
exist without
Lucien
—
or Simon?
As a widow,
certain lifestyles opened up for her:
governess, courtesan,
remarriage
.
But w
ith
Lucien
gone, nothing appealed.
She wanted her old life back.
It
had been
comfortable. It
had
allowed her the freedom to live in a man’s world without concern for
social mores
. Lucien had indulged her
insistently
with a broad education,
weaponry, books, and fashionable baubles
.
She was well-propertied, highly capable of taking care of herself. But alone, with assassins on her trail, how long could she expect to survive?

Candlelight flickered on the impressive stage
.
How long before
her
destiny
led her to Simon
—
and her ruin
?

“You cannot run away
this
time,” Percy said.

His
abrasive words
brought her attention back to
Percy
’s
inquisitive
brown
eye
s
, eyes
that
hid an elusive secret she’d had a hand in
masterminding
. “Careful
,” she said.
“
Do not presume to
tell me
what I can or cannot do
.”

Percy
had thrown down quite a challenge, one she didn’t want to test
. “I presume nothing. However,” he said,
testing the lace at the cuff of his sleeve
,
“
I
saw
th
e look on
Danbury
’s
face after he
left
this box.”

“So you say.”

He harrumphed
.
“If you were smart, and I know you are, you’d join us
.”

“Join you? Whatever for? I came here to deliver Lucien’s last words
, nothing
more.”
A hint of triumph fluttered through her. He wanted her to join Nelson’s Tea, a new order
where
she could
continue Lucien’s lifelong work
.
“You must take my message to Simon,” she said, focusing on what she’d come to do.

“There
is
no
reason
for alarm
.
I assure you
,
Admiral Nelson
is not in danger here.
”

“
And neither was King George. Now, there’s
no time to lose.
You must report to
Danbury
all I have said
.”

Percy
stood
.
“
When I leave here, it
won’t be that easy
to sneak away
. I
must warn you,” he said
,
staring
down at her
with
an insufferable expression on his face
. “
Danbury
will ferret out the truth. He’s a stubborn man
, made more stubborn by what life has dealt him
. He
will not appreciate
hearing about Nelson or Lucien’s death without
questioning you
, especially if
attaining this knowledge
has put you
in
any
danger.
Which it has,” he
added
sternly.

“
I’m in no danger
.”
Gillian looked straight ahead, hating the bitter taste
the lie left in her mouth
.
The reality was drawing attention to herself would only divert much needed resources for the admiral’s would-be
assailants
.

Strange how her role as widow seemed right
—
just
—
after the
many falsehoods she’d
told
over the years.

But
her charade was over
. “Nothing matters now.”

“You matter,
baroness
.”
Percy’s declaration startled her.

He lifted her veil and
placed
his palm against
the side of her cheek
. It was an alarming gesture
, perfectly sensual and kind
. Anyone
who took note of it
would be led to
speculate as to the cause
of
the intimacy
.

“
You sac
rificed
your life,
everything
you have
to come here,” Percy said.
“
As
Danbury
’s friend, I cannot allow you to leave unchaperoned. You will come to my townhouse. I’ll see
to your safety from this day forward
.
” He held up his hand when she started to disagree.
“
No objections. I owe it to Lucien.
”

Percy was right, of course.
If anyone knew how to help her without Simon learning about it, it
would be
the
marquess
.
Questions would be forthcoming. Where was the baron? When would he be joining her?
Her face was known to those who’d frequented Drury Lane.
She wasn’t ready to
reveal her face
to the public
, wasn’t ready for the barrage of questions
she’d receive
from the
ton
until she c
a
me to terms with her lot
and figured
out
where to go, what to do next
.

Goose flesh prickled her skin as her senses came alive
.
Danger lurked everywhere
: t
he boxes beside her where foreign words floated
to her ears
on
infrequent
musical pauses
, the boxes across from her where innumerable opera glasses perched on inquisitive noses, the stage,
and
in
the audience seated below. Simon posed an even greater threat.