Chapter Thirty

“Get off me,” Lily shrieked. She kicked at David splayed across her on the couch. He was a stronger and weightier opponent than she would have guessed. It would take all her physical strength and then some to get out from under him.

“Stop!”

Lily couldn’t place the unfamiliar voice. Footsteps thudded. She sensed a flurry of movement then heard a labored breath as someone ripped her assailant away and flung him aside.

She gaped in disbelief, scarcely able to catch her breath.

A red-faced Captain Babcock loomed over David who sprawled on the floor, legs and arms spread like a starfish. Revulsion contorted the soldier’s features. Up and down went the epaulets of his scarlet jacket as his shoulders heaved.

“What’s the meaning of this?” David bellowed in outrage. He sat up, huffing, his hair mussed and spilling over his forehead.

“Is this how you treat your fiancée, a woman who, not two days ago, you claimed to admire above all others?” Brow beetled, Babcock stroked the hilt of his sword, as if he considered carving his anger in David’s skin.

“How dare you?” Up sprang David with a murderous glare.

“Think before you act,” Babcock growled. He raised his fists and braced his legs wide for an attack. Lily knew he would not hesitate to dismantle any threat posed by David. No doubt, the two other soldiers, primed like cocked guns ten feet away, would lend a hand.

David took a moment to assess the three men. With haughty aplomb, he snapped his jacket, yanked at his shirt, and shoved a lock of hair from his forehead. Stalling, Lily decided as he weighed different scenarios, judging the ploy that would gain him the upper hand.

“Sweet girl, are you hurt?” Agatha’s tremulous voice crackled as she darted closer. Fingers curled like eagle talons scrunched her apron.

“I’m fine.” Lily stood on unsteady legs and with trembling hands smoothed the skirts twisted about her limbs.

“I figured they’d help.” The upset housekeeper jutted a chin at the soldiers.

“You did well, Agatha.” Lily hadn’t heard Babcock knock or the door answered, thanks to David and her shrieking. She forced a weak smile. Under no circumstances would she cry nor allow David the satisfaction of seeing her rattled. “Would you bring us some tea?”

The tiny woman hesitated while she judged the men for further threat. Satisfied no harm would befall Lily, she bobbed her head and left the charged atmosphere.

Lily took a deep breath and gathered her wits as she sat again.

She indicated the chairs near the fireplace. David and Babcock glowered at each other and didn’t budge. “Please.” Civility was essential if she hoped to discover what brought the British Army to her door. Her fright and outrage would ebb in time but disappointment at David’s reprehensible behavior would sting longer.

David discharged a huffy breath and sank into Papa’s bigger chair.

“Wait outside,” Babcock told his men. “And tell the housekeeper tea is unnecessary.” When they’d left, he walked to the opposite end of the fireplace, but chose to stand. “Are you all right, Miss Fitzhugh?”

“Yes, thank you.” Her voice sounded clipped and stiff, a vocal clue to the anger coursing through her limbs. “Let us not speak of this unfortunate instance again.” It would please her immensely if David’s boorish attack would vanish from everyone’s mind. Yet she doubted anything she said or did would salvage what remained of her good reputation. “Please, captain.”

Babcock shifted on his feet, his reluctance apparent. After a moment, he gave a terse nod and turned a stern expression on her aggressor. David met the man’s critical appraisal with the elevated hauteur only someone born into nobility can muster, as though he could do no wrong. A show of humility would go a long way to cooling Babcock’s ire. Sadly, David lacked such a quality.

“Assault, Warwick?” Babcock pounded the fireplace mantel with the butt of his palm. “I should have expected as much from you.”

David scowled. “Don’t think for one minute your smears perturb me. I’ll have you put away.”

“Save your conceit for another day. It doesn’t frighten me.”

The tension hummed with such intensity it almost tingled in Lily’s ears. After several unbearable moments, David blared, “What the devil do you want, Babcock? Why did you come here?”

Lily gave a slow shake to her head, appalled at David’s absolute entitlement and rudeness. Why had she not seen his character sooner?

“Shut your gob,” Babcock grumbled. “You always did talk too much. I’ll ask the questions, your grace.”

David elevated his chin, lengthened his spine and managed to look even haughtier than Uncle Percy. For once, he did as asked.

“What do you know about Henry Fitzhugh’s escape from the Jersey early this morning?”

At the mention of her father, Lily’s anxiety flared like an Oriental firecracker.

“Why ask me?” David sputtered. “How would I know?”

The inquisitor raised a black brow, clearly not fooled by David’s innocent display. “You came to me two days ago and asked my help to have the man released. This morning three men dressed as British officers took Fitzhugh from the prison ship. Rather timely, don’t you think? May I also state the men were not British soldiers? No one’s seen Fitzhugh since.”

Lily pressed a fist to her mouth and watched David blink with confusion. Then he frowned and seemed genuinely perplexed.

“Why interrogate me?” He’d regained his arrogant wind. “If you recall, you agreed to assist in freeing him.”

A muscle jumped in Babcock’s stern face. If a look could cut, Lily figured his high and mighty would be in bloody tatters.

“If you recall”—Babcock did a perfect sneer using David’s same words—“you asked me to risk my career and to act with dishonor. I never agreed to anything. You must think me a numbskull if you consider a lavish meal and copious wine a sufficient inducement to betray my duties.”

David gawped, as if faced by a strange creature he couldn’t comprehend. Within moments, he’d recovered his wits. “You intimated as much.”

“You misjudged. While you prattled on and on, I kept silent. Perhaps you heard only what you wanted to hear, what you expected from a brother of one of your schoolmates. Grasp this, if you would. I scarcely tolerate my brother. I care even less for you.”

David’s fingers bit into the leather chair arms. Even seated ten feet away, his palpable vibrations washed across Lily’s skin. At any moment, she expected him to leap in the air and attack the soldier.

The Captain raised a hand, as if the gesture would quell David’s rage. To her surprise, it did the trick.

With a righteous air of self-importance, David tipped his nose in the air. “Your opinion of me doesn’t matter. However, the implied accusation I caused Fitzhugh’s escape is but a means for you to save face. Admit it. You seek a dupe to place the blame for your administrative incompetence.” His lip curled. “I won’t be your whipping boy.”

A mottled stain worked its way into Babcock’s ivory white neck. Fingers flexing, he visibly fought to curtail his emotions. “What I want,” he said, breathing heavily, “is to find the men who helped Fitzhugh escape. You wanted him released. When I refused to aid you, you approached someone else to do your dirty work.”

David shot out of the chair. “You’re wrong. The man could have rotted in prison for all I cared.”

“David!” She stared in disbelief.

“I came to you, Babcock, because of her.” He pointed an accusing finger. “She wanted her father out. Not me. I was only thinking of her.”

A hot flame engulfed Lily. Her hands fisted with an urge to claw at his face and pound on his chest. “How sweet of you,” she simpered. “Always thinking of my benefit.”

He overlooked her sarcasm and addressed Babcock. “Because you’re commander of prisons, I believed you’d do me this simple favor and release Fitzhugh. How could she fail to regard me as next to God with her father freed?”

Babcock dropped a hand on his hilt. “Are you telling me you had nothing to do with this ruse?”

“I am.” Perhaps shamed, he kept his gaze averted.

Oh, Lord, she thought. He ought to be ashamed.

Babcock’s sword jiggled as he paced the length of the fireplace and returned. “Bribing an officer is not how things are done in the Army.”

David shook his head pityingly, in clear disagreement. “You’ve been in the Colonies too long,” he complained. “Your brother, Lord Chisholm, wouldn’t have turned his back on a friend. We in the ruling class help and protect one another.” In case Babcock or Lily had any doubt to whom he referred, David tapped his chest. “You’ve forgotten how it’s done in England. If I didn’t see you wearing a British uniform, I’d swear you were a bloody Patriot.”

Babcock wisely chose to ignore this. “Tell me who you hired. It must have been you despite your pathetic attempt to make me think differently.”

David blinked with astonishment. “No one.”

“I won’t hesitate to throw you in gaol. Maybe you’d like to warm the seat vacated by Fitzhugh.”

“You can’t be serious,” David spluttered.

For the first time, fear shadowed his features. Lily could almost smell his mounting panic.

“You were my only resource. I spoke to no one else. I swear. Why, I’d be a fool to jeopardize my neck for some traitor.”

“He’s not a traitor,” Lily shouted. “You’re a pig. You only wanted to marry me for Papa’s money.”

Babcock flung up a hand, severing the argument. Lily snapped her teeth together, so furious she trembled.

“I swear to you,” David implored, trying to regain favor despite Babcock’s obvious revulsion. “As one British gentleman to another, I didn’t aid Fitzhugh’s escape. Why would I? I don’t know the man. He’s nothing to me. My appeal to you was a charade, a silly game to get what I wanted.”

Over the years, Lily had witnessed David’s lies. She knew the telltale signs, the shift of his crafty gaze, his detached air. She’d seen none of those behaviors today. David had spoken the truth. He didn’t care what happened to Papa.

She bounded from the couch. “You lied to me. You…You wretch.”

“Calm yourself, woman,” Babcock ordered.

Shaking, Lily considered slapping away David’s smug expression. “Everything you told me was a lie, employed solely to manipulate me. How cruel. You know nothing of Papa’s escape.” If his sole intent was to hurt her, he’d done a fine job. “It’s wicked to claim success for a feat accomplished by another. What did you think would happen when Papa didn’t come home? Or if he did appear, what would you say then?”

“Frankly, I didn’t care. Once you were convinced he was in hiding for his safety, I hoped you’d marry me.”

“Do you really need Papa’s money so desperately?”

He didn’t answer and it was answer enough for her. Every positive belief she ever possessed about him disappeared.

With obvious disgust, the Captain shook his head. “As much as it would suit me to declare you guilty, Warwick, I see the insufficiency of your true character. You aren’t chivalrous enough to risk your freedom for a woman. Furthermore, you lack the courage and skill to organize a caper such as the one executed this morning. As for intelligence, it remains to be seen.”

David blanched. The soldier could not have spoken more insulting words. But if David proved unsuitable for the escapade, she wondered who else could have done the deed. She grasped the sofa to steady herself.

Griffin.

Griffin was selfless and brave. Moreover, he possessed the canny ability to perform such a clever stunt. As she tried to hide a smile, the soldier pivoted on his boot heel in her direction.

“What can you tell me about this, Miss Fitzhugh?”

She swallowed her fear. “The first I heard of Papa’s escape was when David told me just before you arrived.”

“See here, man,” David cried. “News of this escape is all over the city. I daresay there isn’t a soul who hasn’t heard of it.”

Babcock let this comment pass and resumed his harsh appraisal. She sat deathly still. “As you believe your father wrongly imprisoned, perhaps you hired someone to take him from the Jersey.”

“It’s true I wanted his freedom. What daughter wouldn’t? I hoped Papa’s attorney would see him released. Forgive me, sir, but it’s absurd to suspect me. I have no contacts, no family or friends in the city. I haven’t lived here for years. Do you suppose I could arrange his escape from a boat in the harbor when I’ve been in New York only one week? Goodness, Captain, your opinion of me is too grand.” She hadn’t spoken this much since he’d arrived, and the effort left her depleted.

“What about your lover?” David asked.

She froze. Alternate responses darted in her head. With a show of calm grace, she met the triumph shining in his face. “I have no lover, you fool.”

He wagged the digit again, the color rising in his cheeks as he gloated. “It’s the Faraday cretin. He did this! He’d be fool enough to do it for you.”

“Enough!” Babcock stomped a foot. “Not another word or I will throw you in gaol. Do you understand?”

David bristled, but after a moment, nodded with agreement.

Fear for Griffin coursed in her limbs. She clasped her hands, aware that they shook, and glowered at a man she once considered a friend. “This is all about jealousy. Shame on you! How dare you discredit an innocent man?” Her chest heaved as she sucked in air.

“I’ll decide whether the man is innocent or not,” Babcock countered. “Tell me about this Faraday, Miss Fitzhugh.”

“The name is Griffin Faraday.” She unfurled her clenched fingers. Care would be necessary to proceed safely across the prickly terrain.

“Ah, yes. I’ve heard of him.”

Lily swallowed with difficulty and wondered whether the status was good or bad. “These allegations are false. It’s pitiful Lord Warwick smears a man’s reputation when Mr. Faraday is, at this moment, in Philadelphia and unable to defend his good name.”

“You know this to be fact?” Something shifted in Babcock’s tense face.

“He left a few days ago on business. Ask his uncle, Josiah Faraday.”

“I will. In addition, my officers will search your house. Your father wouldn’t be the first escapee to hide under his bed. Until capture of your father is complete, you are confined to your home under close watch.”

“I understand.”

“As for you…” Babcock scanned David with an unmistakable air of loathing. “You’ll be confined to your rooms at the Dorchester until further notice. When the matter is resolved and your innocence proved, you will be escorted to the first available ship bound for England.”

David roared his disapproval. “You have no right. I won’t allow it.”

Babcock drew back his shoulders and stared down his nose at the louse. All color drained from her old friend’s face, though she realized she could no longer assign him the term friend.

“I have all the rights I need.” Babcock boomed.

“David,” Lily said with a smug smile. “Have a pleasant journey back to London.”