Darkest Death, page 9
part #2 of Darkest Series
He wanted more, but didn’t want to push Lady Sarah in the middle of the crisis. He loved her and wanted her to come willingly, not because she was scared. He’d glared at his sister. “We were caught,” he reminded her. “It was the only thing I could think of at the time.”
More smirks.
“Of course,” she’d said, though laughter remained in her voice. God, his sister could be such a brat at times.
Lord Archer stretched his legs out and pushed those thoughts away. He wanted to talk to Lady Sarah, to make plans, which had been his excuse for having the time alone with her. But the plans he wanted to make was when he could whisk her away as his wife, take her away from the threats and the danger.
But he sighed. Lady Sarah had survived for years without a male protector. He needed to reign in his tendencies to keep her in a bubble. It had been easy before. He’d distanced himself, but now, he wanted to gather her up, kiss her senseless, and promise her the world. Lay it at her feet. He wanted to go to battle, prove his prowess. Something, anything. For the first time, he understood the appeal of the knights currying the favors of the ladies.
Anything to have her look at him as if he’d personally made this world just for her.
He groaned. When had he become so prosaic?
“Are you ill?” she asked anxiously.
He barked out a short laugh. Exactly the opposite of what he wanted to present to her. “No, but I can’t stop thinking about you, about us. I should be working on our cover story, about how we became engaged, something to put forth to the agency, fine tuning our plan, but I am sitting her, mooning over you, wishing I knew how to impress you.”
He dared look at her then. That luminous glow was back. “Dearest Archie, I have loved you since but a young girl, before I knew my own heart. That love…was different. It nearly broke me thinking you were part of a plot to kill our queen.”
“Wait, you thought that?” Pain hit him as he recalled his own worries.
She nodded. “What I overheard? Well, he also told them he was waiting for you. I was running to my rooms right after that when I bumped into you.”
Pieces started to fall into place. “I could tell you were upset. Funny because I was told you were the traitor. I was to investigate you.”
“What?” she exclaimed, incredulous. “You personally were to investigate me? Why you?”
He grasped her upper arms and turned to her. “Not at first. I was to help Lord Downing get closer to you. I barely found it all out on the way to Edinburgh. I came because it allowed me to see you and check on my sister. But right after seeing you so distraught, I really pondered what I believed of you. In my estimation, you are not capable of such treasonous acts.”
“Oh, Archie,” she said and laid her hand on his chest, her eyes full of love. “Without any proof?”
“I had my gut instincts and the advantage of knowing you all my life. I decided I would hold those beliefs to myself and track down where the information came from, but then when I met Lord Downing, he told me they thought you were innocent and that it was all the work of Lady Lillian.”
“That’s what you were saying. Did they tell you why?”
“No, but I think your reasoning earlier makes the most sense. For whatever reason, someone wants to marry you, so had us back off. Now tell me, how long did it take you to decide I was innocent?”
She dropped her hands to her lap and fidgeted. “Not too long. It was a lot to take in. I talked it over with Lillian and Hermione, and then the dowager duchess. The assassination plans worried me the most. Lillian pointed out that she’d saved King William from an assassination plot which was kept secret, and we pondered that it might be related to Queen Victoria’s multiple attempts. And, we speculated about how many had been kept secret the way the one on King William was. And…”
“My dear,” he said, taking her hand. “You’re rambling, and it is not like you. What has you so upset?”
“I…did not want to believe you capable of such. As long as I have known you, you have been about the Monarchy, about protecting it, your loyalty. Even as a boy, that was the game we had to play. I was the princess, Hermione the evil stepmother, and you would save me. Never, ever could I imagine you would do that. But…there is more to the motive. I wanted to tell you, but didn’t trust that we wouldn’t be overheard. I don’t want anyone to know.”
He took a hold of his patience. “What did you want to tell me?”
“Lord Downing’s motive. It’s why it took me so long to decide if you were a part of it or not.”
“Sarah,” he said, his tone growing forceful. Whatever it was, it shook her up pretty badly. He caressed her cheek, turning her face to him so he could meet her eyes. “Just tell me. No one else can hear us now, so we don’t have to worry about being overheard.”
“He is a direct descendant of Queen Elizabeth. That she married in secret. He plans to claim the throne in his own right.”
“You alluded to that. At least the gist of it, so what does it have to do with—wait. I see. So, with what you knew of me, it took you a while to convince yourself I would not help to overthrow Queen Victoria in favor of one who may have as much—if not more—supposed claim on the throne.”
“It was the only thing I could think of which might get you to be a part of such a treasonous plot. Anything else, and I swear, I would have known right off that you would never.”
“That’s a strong belief in me.”
“Of course. We have known each other since children, you and I. I am well aware of your faults, but also, your strong suits.”
Her loyalty touched him. Still, he had a job to do, so he addressed that first. “Fair enough. Back to Lord Downing. I thought he wanted to be regent.”
“Well,” she swallowed hard. “He… I think he wanted to marry me first, take my lands and money and maybe even my titles.”
“Your titles?” he asked, ignoring the deep burn of anger that the idea of his mentor taking her for wife produced. So much for trying to stay with the business side. “He has his own titles. Higher than countess.”
“Mine are inherited through female lines, or male if no female is born. My father would not have inherited if a daughter had been born.”
Lord Archer sat back. “That’s—that’s unheard of.” Though Lord Downing seemed to know of a lot of titles which should have been the female’s…
“No, it’s been subjugated to the male will that unless they are the sovereign, they do not possess the brains or wits to rule their lands.”
He fought the smile her spirited words brought. There was his Sarah.
“The early monarchs had much more power of handing out titles and rules. They could put whatever conditions they wanted on it. How it was entailed, what properties, who inherited. As long as it stayed in the family, the people receiving the titles did not care. The title was the power.”
“How did you come to know so much?” Somehow, her knowledge, her passion, only made her more desirable. Now that he’d admitted his feelings, it was as if a dam broke on them.
“I am a single child; my parents are both single children. There was no one else. You…you and Hermione and Lillian are my family. I spent years in our library and libraries of others we visited. Some of this I even garnered from pieces in your father’s library. Who, by the way, is one of the few people whom did not look askance at a young lady asking to borrow ancient texts.”
“You will have to show me this when we have some time. For now…”
He wanted to say more, but again, the idea that she might be clinging to him because of the circumstances hit him. “Never mind. We have much work to do. What you say provides the missing pieces. His motive and how he would have a claim to be regent. I figured as much when we first discussed it, but needed time to formulate a plan. Also, I have the power to recruit an agent, even if temporarily, for a specific assignment. Consider yourself recruited.”
“Really?” Her voice rose an octave.
“Of course. You have proven yourself intelligent, and you kept your wits about you when you overheard upsetting news. I know he does not suspect that you overheard him. He is not easy to fool or to hide from. Going undetected is hard for any of our new agents.”
The delighted and satisfied smile was his only warning. Next thing he knew, she’d flown into his arms, pushing him back against the seat, and kissing him as if the world would end if she didn’t.
His restraint broke. Having her in his arms was the last straw. His hands moved to her back and drew her closer. Her soft lips caressed his then became more demanding. Soft little noises left her as her hands explored him. Every nerve awoken by her touch, his cock hardened to point of pain.
He slid his hands under her cape, tracing her lines. When his hands traced her round buttocks, she moaned into his mouth. She started undoing the buttons of his overcoat, and the tremble in her hands endeared her to him even more. With great reluctance, he put his hand over hers, stopping her. He brought it to his mouth and kissed each finger separately, wanting to keep kissing her, keep contact, but needing to slow down before he took her like a doxy right there in the carriage.
“Sarah,” he began, then shook his head. The intended matter of fact tone did not come out, rather, his voice had deepened, the huskiness sounding needy in his own mind.
Then the carriage hit a large hole in the road, the jar throwing them to the ground in a flurry of arms and legs. Her cape and his overcoat saved them from worst injury than they might have suffered. Carefully, after a few minutes, they managed to detangle themselves, and he peered out. Trees all around them. Lord Archer frowned. He didn’t remember this on the way there. But then again, he’d been upset and planning how to fix things. Maybe they had been there, and he had simply missed them?
With extreme caution, he opened the carriage door and called out to the rider. The pounding of hooves was his answer. He stepped out and stood, still just in the carriage door, to see over it. The driver road hell bent for leather on the horse which had previously been pulling the carriage.
“Son of a bitch!” He pounded the top of the carriage.
He hopped down and looked around, and Sarah poked her head out. “What’s happened?”
“The driver is not a very reliable sort, it would appear. He has absconded with the horse, leaving us here without a means of moving the carriage.” And he’d put himself and Sarah in a very precarious position. Something which his agency would rightfully reprimand him for.
“I see. Any sign of the others?”
“No. And I don’t remember this stretch of road. We must have turned off earlier. It is anyone’s guess as to when the others will find out. We straggled behind from the beginning.”
“Well then, Mr. Spy, what should we do now?”
Her humor was infectious, but the strain remained for him. Still, she asked a very good question. What should they do?
Chapter Ten
Lady Sarah
Middle of Nowhere, Scotland
Fine kettle of fish. For a brief time, Lady Sarah had felt much more like herself. Ever since receiving those Valentine’s cards, she’d been off her game. Lord Archer’s innocence in the treasonous plans she’d overheard had done much to salve her fears. However, though they’d pooled their knowledge and had a plan, she still felt they’d all missed something obvious.
What about the Valentine’s card she’d received, for instance? Surely it had to be related. It would defy logic for her to have a separate stalker at the same time…would it not?
Lord Archer’s mentor and superior being in charge of such clandestine things right under the nose of the very agency meant to stop such doings could not be a coincidence in her mind. And, she’d been about to tell him that and ask if he had thought of anything new with the card when he’d side tracked her. Then there had been the news that he wanted her to work with him officially, and the kissing.
Sigh. The kissing.
Such wonderful, glorious feelings only to be thrown across the carriage. Now, stranded with a horseless carriage and newly an agent, spy, well, a sort of spy, she tried to stay calm and work through it.
“First, what would you do if alone and this happened?”
He ran one hand through his rugged hair, all tussled from their kissing, and kept it there. “Technically, we are supposed to go to the nearest public place and send word that someone is on to us. Whether they know what we are or not, we obviously ruffled feathers. Hopefully, in this case, it was not one of Lord Downing’s men.”
He paced as he spoke, and she admonished herself to quit admiring the breadth of his shoulders and wishing his coat didn’t cover so much of his thighs. She delicately cleared her throat. “A perfectly sound plan, in most cases. But, we are in a pickle of not knowing where, precisely, we have been abandoned. So,” she continued, thinking rapidly and calculating time on the road while thinking of when any change had happened, “we must decide if going back is the best option or going forward. I can tell you, we took a turn left to get off the main road. I did not think of it at the time, but I remember concentrating on not falling into you.”
“Excellent work! Do you remember how long ago, about?” His eagerness at her information had her giddy and pressured her at the same time.
“Before you mentioned the agency thing. Because after, I would not have fought it.”
“So, we either went off the main road there or had been off by that point and made another turn. But no more than that. It doesn’t feel like it would be.”
“My opinion? That was the only real turn off the main road. Sooner, and we’d have been too noticeable to the others. The driver probably purposely stayed back, gradually getting farther and farther behind. It would cause the least notice of the others, should a driver be inclined to notice.”
“Agreed. However, on the way to Canterburys’ estates, I only remember one small village on that route. Although, it was coming on dark, so I might be wrong.”
“Going back, we could always make our way back to the estates. Someone would know. There were other cottages along the way, likely cottagers of Canterbury’s. We could send a message from there.”
“What about Louisa? And whomever…Louisa! Of course. I should have checked more carefully. I bet it was her dressed as our driver. I have been so much like fifteen puzzle since they said our target was you. My duty warring with my heart. Too much. I am not usually such a dunderhead, I promise you, Lady Sarah.”
“I am flattered that I provided such a conundrum for you, but now is not the time for self-recriminations. I believe you when you say you are generally more competent than so far exhibited. But, I dare say, you’ve never been put in this position before, never had your sister’s friends under investigation, never had your mentor, your hero in the agency turn out to be the very thing you have spent your life trying to protect England and the monarchy from. Even before you knew what, your instincts told you to not tell Lord Downing everything. Not everyone could have done that. Now, snap out of it and think. Train me.” It hurt her heart, and all she wanted to do was run to him and comfort him, but that was not what he needed now. He needed the rough, to be reminded of who he really was.
He grabbed her roughly by her upper arms and kissed her hard. “Sarah, when this is all over, we are getting married. I will find a way to have your lands stay under your control, have them attached to the title, whatever I can do. This, I promise you.”
Every bit of her tuned to him. Even with all the cloth between the two of them, something happened deep in her core, and his words seduced her more thoroughly than any courtesan.
He bopped her on the nose with a laugh. “You’re right, of course. I’ve let this all tie me up in emotional knots, but I still retained some of my training. Okay, let’s say it was Louisa. She will want to report. That is also part of protocol. If she does not know of Lord Downing’s perfidy, she will simply be following orders. Either way, I say we go the way she went.”
“And if it’s not her?” She completely agreed, but she wanted to know, to learn. She slipped her arm in the proffered elbow, and they began to walk.
“It—wait! My sister has taken to having food in every conveyance when going anywhere ever since her pregnancy started. Let’s see if we can find something.”
It took a few minutes, but they found it on the back where their valises would have been stacked if they’d not decided to attach it to the servant’s carriage in anticipation of their arrival in Edinburgh. He carried the basket on one hand and again proffered his elbow.
“Who knew your sister’s condition would be beneficial to us?” she said and laughed as they started down the road.
He grinned. “You know, having a sense of humor in tricky situations shows the making of a good agent. Now, as I was saying, it wouldn’t matter if it wasn’t Louisa. I think the principle stands. They will want to notify their employer of their success immediately and get any promised payments.”
“Of course. Perfectly sound.”
They reminisced about their times together when they were younger, then about her parents. “Your parents are a bit of a legend,” he said in reverent tones. “I feel I can tell you now, seeing as how you are an agent.”
Her heart jumped in her throat as it beat faster than Beethoven’s Fifth. Her parents taught her much about solving riddles, doing puzzles, and gadgets. As a child, she was given the most delightful puzzle boxes and other toys which required figuring out patterns or solving riddles. She suspected they’d planned to tell her, but had been killed before they could.
“A legend?” she said as soon as she thought she had control of her voice. Bless him for waiting patiently while the emotions swam around inside her.
“Quite so. They met behind enemy lines. They were stuck in Spain when France invaded. I’ve read their diaries. Even though they had no way of sending them, they wrote their reports regularly, including meeting each other and suspecting the other of being a French spy. They spent more time with each other, both hoping to learn something to trip up their enemy, until, one day, they realized they were in love.”
