Standing in a lovely tearoom, waiting for Lord Needley to return with their cakes, Amanda smelled Jack Bender before she felt his foul hot breath on her neck.
“Smile pretty and meet me around back in one minute.” And then his sour stench left, and the air cleared.
But Amanda’s throat closed and her hands shook, her breathing painfully shallow. Lord Needley returned with their fare. He said something, but she couldn’t make out the words. The world tilted and began to darken. As it lightened again, she saw his concerned face. He steadied her with his strong arms and looked into her eyes. She blinked.
“There you are, Lady Amanda. Let us sit for a moment. I was afraid I had lost you.”
Amanda gratefully took the chair he pulled over and accepted his solicitous offer to sit near her to lean on if necessary. She smiled weakly. What was the matter with her? Surely she had not just swooned. Fortunately, she could use her dizzy episode to her advantage.
“Oh, you are too kind. What would I have done had you not been here to catch me?” She blinked slowly at him and smiled in what she hoped was a charming manner. “And you are so strong! Your arms and . . .” She allowed the sentence to linger as she studied his broad chest. He really was a beautiful man. “I do believe I could use a moment to myself this afternoon. Do you think you could call the carriage? I’ll just go into the back to splash some water on my face.”
He stood immediately and went to call for his footman. As soon as he was out the front door, she stood, took a moment to make sure of her balance, and rushed through the shop to the back door and out into the alleyway. She frantically looked right and left, hoping she was not too late. Seeing no one about, she felt panic rise to her throat. Would he punish Charlie for her neglect? She stepped farther into the alley, nearly missing an awful pile of something at her feet. The pungent odors reached her as she grabbed for her handkerchief and held it over her nose.
Bender stepped out from an adjoining alley. She whirled around to face him and tried to be brave.
“You are late.” His voice sounded raspy, as if he had been shouting for the better part of an hour.
“It is the best I could do. As it is, Lord Needley will be waiting with the carriage. What do you want?”
“Meet me with the ring this afternoon at three at this address.” He handed her a paper with the directions scribbled on it. “Come alone.”
Amanda’s hands rose and waved in the air as she spoke. “How do you suggest I do that, assuming I can get my father’s ring so quickly? I am not permitted—”
“I don’t care how you manage it. But I had better not see another person near. I am sure I don’t need to remind you whose life you would be risking by crossing me.”
Amanda swallowed and nodded. “I understand.” She studied him. His eyes darted every which way in a crazed fashion. He had a sheen of sweat on his forehead and several beads running down his face. And he rocked from side to side as he shifted the weight of his feet from one to the other.
Amanda felt an intense revulsion to him, and his crazed behavior filled her with fear. Her eyes widened, and she couldn’t look away.
He stepped toward her erratically. “Stop staring!” His eyes started twitching. He raised a fisted hand as if to strike her.
She yelped and ducked her head, putting hands up over her head for protection. But he stopped before his fist reached her face.
He froze, staring at his raised hand for a moment, and then slowly lowered it to his side. Without another word, he turned and ran down the alley in the other direction.
Lord Needley slammed open the back door of the shop. Amanda spun around, heart pounding. Before she could do or say anything, Lord Needley cradled her in his arms, holding her against his chest. “I heard you call out.” He pulled away, held both sides of her face with his hands, and said gently, “What happened?”
She tried to formulate some sensible reason to be standing behind the shop.
When she didn’t immediately respond, he said, “Lady Amanda, can you hear me? You are in the back alley. We need to get you home.”
She blinked slowly in confusion. Did he think her brain addled? She bit back a smile, which created an even greater look of confusion on his face. “Oh, Lord Needley. Thank you. I thought a bit of fresh air . . .”
They both glanced around them at the awful refuse that cluttered the ground.
Lord Needley raised a handkerchief to his nose as Amanda replaced hers. “Yes, quite.” He shook his head.
And then she rested her head against him, cringing at the huge falsehood.
He said, “But let us leave this lovely air and get you home, shall we?” He stepped back, placing her hand gently on his arm, and walked her back through the shop.
As Amanda passed between the tables, she smiled as she saw her latest fliers in the hands of several patrons. They were laughing together and in some cases appeared to be discussing her drawings. She looked down to hide her triumph. Would her fliers make a difference? She hoped to find out tonight at Miss Clarissa’s dinner party.
An awkward atmosphere in the carriage hung over them all. Lord Needley lacked his normal attentiveness. He watched out the window, appearing deep in thought. Perhaps he assumed she would need some quiet.
Molly had spent the time with Miss Tanner, she assumed, and her eyes were full of questions, but Amanda just smiled helplessly at her and knew she would have to wait.
She cleared her throat. “Lord Needley. I must apologize. I do not know what to say . . .”
He turned to her, and she could almost see a battle going on behind his eyes. He said, “You appear to be recovered. Remarkably so, I would think.”
Amanda blushed. “I think so, yes.”
He leaned back in the carriage and folded his arms across his chest. He raised one eyebrow at her. “And what were you doing in that alleyway, Lady Amanda? Really.”
She raised both her eyebrows. She glanced at Molly, who responded with a confused look of her own. Amanda’s eyes returned to Lord Needley, who watched her, waiting.
“Well, I . . . I’m sure I don’t know, my lord,” she said with a small voice. Then she lifted her chin and looked at him directly in the eyes. She wasn’t sure what to tell him, but she had nothing to be ashamed of. She was doing her best to save the life of a dear friend and help free the English working class.
Lord Needley leaned forward, smiling encouragingly at her.
Amanda paused a moment longer, wanting nothing more than to share the whole of it with him. The temptation became so great she opened her mouth. “You see . . .” And then the carriage rocked to a stop. They arrived in front of her house. The footman opened her door, and the moment fled. Relief filled her.
“Thank you for an interesting outing today, Lord Needley.” She swept past him, Molly right behind, before he could say another word.
He did not exit the carriage. She glanced back just before she went inside, her last sight of him, his face framed in the carriage window, leaning forward to watch her up the stairs to her front doorway.
Her father’s voice called to her from a room off the entry hallway. “Amanda. You are home. Come here, my dear girl.”
She hurried happily into his study where he stood to embrace her and kiss her forehead. Her body went still as she saw her latest flier on top of his correspondence on the desk.
He noticed the direction of her gaze. “Have you seen these new fliers? They are brilliant satires. You would appreciate them, for all your love of drawing.”
Her heart warmed. Her father enjoyed the newest fliers, had one on his desk, was recommending it to her. She reached to pick it up—the one Charlie and Molly had delivered for her. They had certainly spread quickly. “Where did you get it? Everyone seems to have these everywhere I turn of late.”
He nodded. “Yes, I have noticed that as well. This one was at White’s. One of the men left it on a table. We all passed it around and had a good laugh.”
In this latest drawing, she had tried to depict the work of a valet. A nobleman stood in his exaggerated wealth. He had an unrealistically large watch chain dangling from his pocket. In one hand he held a half a glass of bourbon, and in the other he was trying to place a cake into his mouth, but was dropping crumbs on his tailcoat and dribbling jam on his intricately tied cravat.
The valet was using one foot to shine a boot, one hand to brush off the shoulders of the suit coat, and the other hand to flick off crumbs as they fell. In the valet’s pockets were all manner of items: a needle and thread, polish for the boots, and pomade for hair. He had extra cravats draped over his shoulders. She wanted it to be funny enough that the nobles could laugh at themselves while appreciating the tireless efforts of their valets. And from the sound of the reaction at White’s, she had been at least partially successful.
She grinned. “It does remind one of your Felton, does it not?”
Her father laughed. “I would hope not! Felton is a saint of a man, but I have never spilled food on my person while he was still trying to dress me. Ho ho!”
Amanda laughed good-heartedly with her father. “No, I suppose not. Perhaps he should thank you for that,” she teased.
But her father sobered slightly and said, “No, my dear. I feel I should be thanking him. A valet is an indispensable part of a gentleman’s life.”
A great feeling of contentment rose in her chest. A great grin filled her face.
Her father looked at her curiously. “You seem exceptionally pleased. Should I be suspicious of something? Archery lessons on the sly again? Learning to fire a rifle somewhere here in London?”
Amanda laughed again. “No! Not at all. I am happy to hear how much you appreciate Edgar is all. I think it speaks volumes about a person, how much gratitude they feel for the servants in their employ.”
The duke stepped back and looked at his daughter with an appraising eye. “Now, there’s the Amanda I know. I’ve been wondering where you had gone off to. Well thought, my dear.”
Amanda blushed a little under his scrutiny. She wished she could share some of her burden with her father. She wished she did not have to act like her head was stuffed with linen. She wished most of all that she wasn’t considering pilfering her father’s signet ring.
Her guilt coming to a head, she considered voicing her concerns about Bender. She had yearned to do so several times over the past couple of weeks. Could she simply tell him? The idea of handing this terrifying problem to her father filled her with such relief she almost began the words. She hesitated. What could he do? He would call in the magistrate. He would hire a Bow Street Runner. What if Bender got wind of it all? And she was to meet him right away. Even an hour’s delay could mean Charlie’s life. As much as her father cared for Charlie, he would never let her be at risk to save him. No, she must move forward on her own, at least for now. She could always get help if things became worse.
Answering her father before she weakened and told all, she looked away from his searching gaze. “I am happy to hear your praise, Father. I know I have been different lately.” She smiled sadly. “But you must understand I have only been trying to follow your orders.” She felt her pulse speed up as she considered the injustice of what he had asked. “Insisting that I choose a suitor this Season and allowing two men to court me, even informally, with marriage in mind—I don’t know how you could do such a thing.” She turned from him and looked out the window.
Her father sighed and moved to stand next to her, sharing the view. “I know you don’t understand, my dear. But consider. It hasn’t been so bad, has it? I understand you have been quite . . . friendly, with the both of them. Surely you can see that either one would make a fine match.”
“Fine? Certainly. But filled with love? Can’t you see that I want what you and Mother have? With that example clearly before me all of my days I cannot possibly hope for anything less.”
Understanding lit the duke’s eyes, and he looked with compassion into Amanda’s. “Can you not find yourself feeling affection for either of them, ever?”
Amanda blushed and looked at her toes.
Her father smiled and with his finger lifted her chin. “Hmm?”
Amanda said, “It is still so early, but I think I might, with one of them.” And she couldn’t stop the blush or the smile that crept onto her face. She waved a hand and began pacing back and forth in front of her father. “But that is not the point. I did not want to feel forced into such a decision, and your whole plan could very well have fallen flat. It still could. Who knows if he even feels the same as I?”
The duke’s large belly laugh interrupted her. She spun to face him, indignation firing in her eyes.
“There is nothing to laugh at that I can see, I am sure.” She turned from him.
But the duke pulled her around and into another hug. “I love you, my dear Amanda. It will all work out, you will see. Trust your father.” Amanda was about to respond when their butler cleared his throat in the doorway. The duke said, “What is it, Mr. Parsons?”
“Lady Swanson has come to visit, and Duchess Marian has asked for your presence in the drawing room, if you please, Your Grace.”
Her father drew in a fortifying breath. “Wish me luck, my dear. This will be no easy meeting. They wish to discuss the lack of decent flowers at Almack’s. Your kind mother has shielded me for weeks, bless her good soul, but it looks as though it can no longer be avoided.”
“Lack of flowers! What! Why can they think you will care one whit about the flowers at Almack’s?”
“One never can understand the workings of the matrons of the ton. But let’s see if we can keep them smiling, shall we?” He kissed her forehead and left the room.
As soon as he was out of sight, Amanda raced around to the other side of his desk and opened the drawer that would hold his signet ring if he was not wearing it. A part of her hoped he had it on his finger—in her distraction about her fliers and suitors, she had not noticed. Her heart pounded as she saw it resting near his melting wax and writing quill. Did she dare? Could she allow such lowly filth to even place his dirty hands upon it? She swallowed once, twice. What was a ring when compared to the cost of a man, a dear friend, Charlie? With grim determination, she reached in, took the ring, and placed it in her reticule. And not a moment too soon. Just as she was closing the drawer, their steward entered.
He stopped short in the doorway and cleared his throat. “Lady Amanda, please excuse me. I will wait in the hall.” And he started backing out the way he had come.
“Oh no, please, come in. I was on my way out. I am sure Father will be in as soon as he can.” Amanda almost ran from the room. She began to panic. With the steward present, her father would work on estate business of some sort, have some kind of correspondence to complete, and would need the ring. Amanda could waste no time. She grabbed her cloak, motioned for Molly, who waited in the hall, to come with her, and rushed to the door. “We are going out for a stroll, Mr. Parsons, and then Mother is aware I will be spending the evening hours with Miss Clarissa Hampton. Would you mind reminding anyone who wonders at my absence?”
Mr. Parsons nodded. “Very good, my lady. If you will wait for one moment, I’ll summon a footman.”
Amanda nodded and stepped out the door, Molly following behind. As soon as it was closed, she ran down the street, pulling Molly after her.
Breathless, Molly asked, “My lady, why are we rushing so? Is something the matter?”
Amanda glanced at Molly—dear, loyal, good-hearted Molly. “I can’t have the footman following after”—she panted, nearly out of breath herself—“Bender came to the tearoom and demanded the signet.”
Molly gasped.
“And the steward arrived. They’ll want the ring and find it missing as soon as Father finishes with Lady Swanson’s complaint.”
Counting numbers on the homes, she stopped, and Molly nearly ran her over. “Oh, I’m dreadfully sorry, my lady!” she breathed.
“Oh no, Molly, I am sorry. I gave you no warning. We have arrived. See the numbers, just there.” She glanced at the address Bender had given her.
They both stared at the neglected town house. On either side of the home, up and down the street, beautiful, well-kept fronts signified wealth. This one was a shambles. They shared a glance and then as one began walking up the steps. When they reached the door, Amanda raised her hand and lifted the knocker three times. The door cracked, and Bender’s eye peered at her. Unnerved, she reached for Molly’s arm. Molly placed her hand over Amanda’s and squeezed.
Bender opened the door wider. “I told you to come alone.”
Amanda found a bit of courage and responded, “Which I simply could not do. I will not be found alone with a man in his home. I would be ruined. Molly is my maid and has sworn to secrecy.” She held his eyes, refusing to flinch.
Molly nodded, chin up.
Bender grunted and asked, “Did you bring the item?”
Amanda nodded. “But you are not to touch it.”
“What?” Bender growled. He opened the door wider, reaching for Amanda. She stepped back before he could pull her inside, but nearly fell down the steps behind her.
“I will not let you touch it. Whatever business you need it for, I will seal the letter for you, and then we will be on our way.”
Bender looked suspicious. His eyes flicked greedily to her reticule and back to her face.
“If we do not hurry, the duke will notice it is gone. We have only a few moments before he plans to meet with his steward, who arrived just as we were leaving.”
Her words seemed to do the trick. Bender startled a bit and opened the door wider to allowed them both to pass. She heard the door close behind them, and she couldn’t help the chill that trickled through her. Bender led them down a poorly lit hallway and to the right into an office. She and Molly remained standing, hoping to finish this business and leave as quickly as possible.
Bender opened a drawer in an old and scratched desk, pulling out three letters. “Seal these documents.” He retrieved a wax stick from another drawer and proceeded to warm it with a candle. The wax quickly melted, and he smeared it onto the paper. He motioned for her.
Amanda gritted her teeth and pushed the signet into the wax, leaving the unmistakable mark of the dukedom of Cumberland, one of the most powerful and ancient families in England. Not for the first time, she questioned her wisdom in coming. But she reminded herself she had no other option.
As she placed her father’s seal on the other two letters, she vowed to never again do Bender’s bidding. He lifted the letters to speed the cooling of the wax, and she caught a part of the direction on the front side of one: King Street, Manchester.
Bender had a sharp eye and snapped, “Keep your eyes where they belong.” Amanda immediately lowered hers and backed up several steps. She swallowed and reached for Molly’s hand. Bender finished waving the paper around, tested the wax, and seemed satisfied that it had dried sufficiently. He again looked in their direction.
Amanda raised her chin and said, “I must be getting back before Father notices that I and the ring are missing.”
“I do not care one whit if he notices your absence.” His cold eyes told Amanda he spoke the truth. “I do not, however, want him suspicious that his ring has been compromised.” He led them to the door and waited while they inched it open and slid through to the steps and street below. “I will contact you when I need your services again.” His voice carried out onto the street.
Amanda blushed furiously and looked up and down the street, relieved at finding it empty.
Gripping each other by the hand, Molly and Amanda rushed back in the direction of the Cumberland town house. At the first alley, Amanda pulled Molly to a stop, took out the ring, and whispered, “Go. Take this with you and deliver it as soon as you can back into the top drawer of my father’s desk.”
Molly began to protest wildly, “No, my lady. They will think I stole it. You—”
Amanda interrupted. “I must intercept the letters I just sealed. I cannot allow them into the hands of whomever Bender intends.”
Molly’s eyes widened in fear. “But what will you do, my lady?”
“I do not know yet. For now, I will watch and wait for an opportunity to present itself.”
With a look of determination, she pressed the ring into Molly’s reluctant hand and pushed her out onto the main street, leaving Amanda alone in the back alleyway. Molly glanced once more at Amanda before walking with purpose in the direction of the town house. With any luck, no one would ever know the ring had left. At least her parents assumed she was visiting with friends this evening several streets over at Miss Clarissa’s house. She had some time to intercept the correspondence.
Amanda waited in the dark of a street corner near a section of trees for something to happen at Jack Bender’s town house. It felt like hours had gone by, but she was sure it was only a matter of minutes. Just as she was about to move to the back of the property, Bender’s door opened and his black boots stepped onto the first step. She breathed a sigh of relief. He turned to his left and walked briskly down the sidewalk. She stepped out of the shadows to follow as a hand grabbed her elbow. She bit back a scream and whipped around.
“Amanda, what are you doing?”
Stomach in her throat, she turned with wide, desperate eyes to see Charlie, inches away, looking at her in accusation and worry.
“Let me go, Charles! We have to follow him!” When he did not release his grip, she added, “Please! We mustn’t lose sight of him! He used my father’s signet.”
Charlie flinched. He did not release her arm, but at least they were moving now in the direction Bender had gone. She squinted into the darkness as he slipped around a corner and out of sight.
“Oh, hurry, Charles!”
They broke into a run, trying to keep their feet as quiet as possible. They followed him for several blocks, across streets and through alleys until they came to a busier part of London where he signaled a hackney carriage and went rushing through a crowded square. Amanda looked around desperately as Charles calmly signaled a driver to pick them up as well. He instructed the driver to go in the general direction of Bender’s carriage.
“It’s all right, Lady Amanda. I know where he is going.”
She searched his face but said nothing.
On they went for the better part of thirty minutes, instructing their driver to follow, until they saw Bender jump out and make his way to an old church. Amanda looked through the carriage windows. Run-down buildings and broken windows lined the streets. Her clothing would draw attention. Charlie must have had similar thoughts because he instructed the driver to wait for him and told Amanda he would be right back.
“I am coming with you.”
Charlie shook his head. “Stay here,” he commanded. He hurried off in the direction of the church without looking behind him at all. She considered her options for a few moments. Could she be sure that Charlie would confiscate those letters? What if he needed her help? Bender could discover him and threaten him. Too much rested on Charlie. She told the driver to wait for her, and she followed her friend into the dark.
He had slipped in the church door, so she did as well. She peered into a small sanctuary. It was empty. At the far end and down a hallway, a door rested slightly ajar, allowing the flickering of candlelight to illuminate some of the passage. As she crept closer, voices became clear.
“What are you doing here alone, Lemming?”
She placed her hand over her mouth to stop any sound. Bender had Charlie.
She froze in her place when she heard Charlie say, “Simon was held up at home. His wife’s consumption is getting worse. The doctor fears she hasn’t much time left. And his lordship was extra demanding today. I just barely got away myself.”
“Soon you will be able to have your own stables, raise your own horses. No more catering to the needs of someone else’s animals above your own.”
Is that what Charlie wanted? To own a stable of his own? She did not know. She didn’t know anything about what Charlie really wanted with his life.
“I long for the day. Perhaps it will be sooner than we thought.”
She heard the noise of someone searching through a sack.
“I have letters we must send by express. Tonight.”
Charlie cleared his throat. “They are expecting these then?”
Amanda heard a chair scraping on the floor and the jingle of buckles clinking together. She realized Charlie and Bender would soon exit the room, and she was exposed in an open sanctuary. She turned and ran for the outside door. She tried to be quiet by running on the toes of her boots, but mostly tried to be quick. Without looking back, she burst through the door and rushed across the street, and around the corner, climbing into their hack. She stilled her breathing, hoping she had made it without being seen.
Their open-air conveyance waited down a side alley not visible from the church, but if she leaned forward at just the right angle, she could make out the entrance. The door opened to reveal Bender, who headed off in the direction he had come. A few moments later, Charlie emerged, looking up and down the street before hurrying in her direction.
He climbed in to sit beside her, his eyes furious. “What were you thinking, Amanda, entering that building? I told you to stay here.”
Amanda’s own fury rose to the surface, fueled by her recent danger. “And when have I ever obeyed your command, Charles? Those letters are my responsibility. I had to come in.”
“And a whole heap of help you were! You could have been killed. You placed my position with Bender in jeopardy—risked my life and yours. And all because you think you know the best thing to do in every situation!”
Amanda was shocked for a moment and without words. She directed her eyes meaningfully at the driver, who was watching them curiously. Charlie noticed and asked him to take them in the direction of Amanda’s home.
They spoke in hushed tones. Amanda said, “Never mind all that. We must know what the letters say, Charles. Hurry! Open them.”
Charlie pulled them out of his satchel and placed them in Amanda’s lap and she took them, intending to open them right away. Then as he glanced up to check their surroundings, his eyes went hard and his face white. “Get down, Amanda. Hide your face.” With no time to retrieve the letters from her, Charlie slipped out of their moving open-air hack and onto the street, stumbling from the impact of his feet hitting uneven stone. Amanda ducked and searched the streets wildly out of the corners of her eyes. Charlie ran off down a side street and was soon invisible in the darkness. On the other side of the street, Bender’s jet-black hair moved amongst a crowd, all entering the same pub. Thankfully, he was not looking in her direction. But she kept her face averted and her head down until long after she approached the more familiar streets of her home.
She instructed the driver to stop several streets from her front door and paid him from her reticule. Clutching the letters, she slid them inside her reticule. She hurried up to the house, hoping to avoid Mr. Parsons, but he was right there, opening the door as soon as she reached the top step.
He whispered, “Hurry to your room. Molly is waiting with hot water for your bath.” He winked at her and then stood up straight, plastering on the typically stoic butler expression. She thanked him in an undertone and hurried up the stairs and down the hall to her room without encountering anyone else. What exactly did Parsons think she was doing?
Nathaniel sat in the darkness of his carriage with fists clenched. His jaw worked back and forth as he gritted his teeth in frustration. After running his hands through his hair several times he slammed his fist into the seat cushion beside him.
“My lord?” the coachman, James, asked in hushed tones from above.
“It is nothing. Wait a moment more.”
Nothing would have shocked him more in that moment than to see Charlie involved with Bender’s crime ring. But to feel emotional grief for lost friendship troubled him more deeply. The man was a decent stable hand, to be sure, but Nathaniel had come to view him as a friend as well and had been certain that Charlie could be trusted. Nathaniel had very nearly invited him to join their Liberty Seekers team. When he saw the indisputable evidence that Charlie was involved with Jack Bender, he was disturbed at the level of desertion he felt.
But that felt like nothing but a pin prick when compared with the utter betrayal he felt upon seeing Amanda rush into the same church shortly after Charlie. His was such a conflicting knot of emotion he did not know how to react, then or now. Should he have stampeded in and saved Amanda from herself? Should he have carried her off and delivered her to her father? What could she be thinking, being in league with Jack Bender? Could it be that she was blinded by Bender’s supposed cause? Did she think his methods a means to an end? Perhaps she was unaware of the depth of his evil. Her actions just did not coincide with the woman he knew. Or thought he did.
After several minutes of emotional paralysis and misery, the church door had slammed open again and interrupted his thoughts. She had come tearing out of those doors as if chased by the devil himself. He had nearly flung open his own carriage doors at the sight, stopped only by the appearance of Jack Bender and then Charlie soon after. Charlie had joined Amanda in their hired hack, and they stayed hidden. Why weren’t they moving? And then a painful idea had pestered the back of his mind.
Could they be in love? Nathaniel shook his head. Perhaps she came to help him. They are dear friends. He ran his hand through his hair again. No, the risk was too great for mere friendship. Of course they were in love. They’d sat together in their hack for much longer than necessary. Charlie had always held feelings for Amanda, and Nathaniel had been blind not to notice that Amanda obviously cared for Charlie in return. Else why would she be here at all?
The betrayal and grief he had felt earlier were joined by the claws of jealousy as his fists clenched tighter together in an effort to squeeze all feeling out of his body. He was about to tell his driver to take him home when he saw Bender hurrying down a side street and Charlie and Amanda following behind. The implications of the two of them following Bender wove through him as he tried to make sense of it.
“James. Follow the hack.”
After a few moments, Charlie flung himself from the hack and Amanda ducked and then continued on her own as Bender slipped into a pub.
Nathaniel followed at a distance, grateful to see the hack heading in the direction of the Cumberland town house.
“Stay back, James, give them four or five blocks.”
Her conveyance stopped near her home. She stepped out, looked up and down the street, and then hurried into the opened door. Nathaniel’s hands fell limply at his sides.
“My lord?” James peered down at him through a hatch in the ceiling.
“Home, James. Take us home.”
Feeling emotionally spent, he leaned his head back against the seat and waited for the carriage to take him home where his bed, a hot bath, and the spinning workings of his mind awaited him. He was sure the sleep his body so desperately craved would once again elude him.
As Amanda quietly closed her bedroom door behind her, Molly came rushing out of the dressing room. Both asked at the same moment, “Did you get the letters?”
“Did you return the ring?”
Molly answered first. “The ring is in the drawer, and I don’t think anyone noticed it was missing.”
Amanda breathed a sigh of relief, some tightness leaving her chest. “And I have the letters.”
Molly slumped to the bed. The relief pouring out of her was soon replaced with exhaustion. “I don’t know if I have the energy to even hear how that miracle was accomplished.”
Amanda came to sit beside her, taking Molly’s hand in her own. “Charlie was there.”
Molly nodded. “I sent word to him.”
She pulled the letters onto her lap, and with Molly leaning over her shoulder, she broke the seals and opened the first. Her heart pounding, Amanda gripped Molly’s arm with one hand while she held the letter open with her other as the details of Jack Bender’s latest plan to kill the prime minister and his cabinet were spelled out as if in her father’s hand. “It is an invitation of sorts. To a meeting to plan . . .” Her voice trailed off—the more she read, the more horrified she became. Molly gasped as she read over Amanda’s shoulder.
Gulping in her next breath, Amanda’s hands shook and her face blanched. Molly wrapped an arm around her shoulders to steady her, and she gratefully leaned against her maid. “My father could have been hanged for this.”
Molly’s face was grim. “Aye. Treason it is.”
“I cannot believe how close we came to total disaster. If I had not—if Charlie had not come, I cannot bear to think of the consequences. My father would surely have been implicated in the deaths of our entire cabinet, their wives, and Lord Liverpool himself.”
Molly said, “But the danger is not averted, my lady. Your father will not bear any of the blame, but from the looks of things, the people involved will see the plan to its fruition.”
“Which would mean that this letter was written with the sole purpose of implicating Father.”
Molly nodded. “Why does he hate your family so?”
Amanda shook her head, not feeling up to relaying her mother’s story just now.
“We should tell the duke.”
“We will if we must, but I would rather he never learned of my betrayal. If I had known the contents of this letter, I would never—no matter the risk—never have used my father’s ring.”
Molly wrapped her arms around Amanda and gave her a squeeze. “Of course you wouldn’t. You had no way of knowing. But what else could you have done? He would have killed Charlie. And you never even planned for them to be delivered at all, no matter what they said.”
Amanda scanned the other two letters. “They are identical.” She shook her head at her own foolishness. “I don’t know what I was thinking I could have done. If it were not for Charlie—” She stared unseeing at the ceiling. “Charlie was already planning to meet Bender there. He was the person who was assigned to deliver these letters.” Amanda shook her head. “Oh, what is he involved in? And what will happen to him when Bender realizes the letters were not delivered?”
“Charlie can take care of himself, my lady. He knows the risks. He has been doing this a long time.” Molly smiled proudly. She thought for a minute and then said, “And I don’t know that Bender will discover anything at all about the letters. He would never know if they arrived or not, not until after July 23.”
“You are probably right.” The tightness that had wound around her heart loosened a bit as she realized her father was not headed for ruin or worse, and Charlie was as safe as he ever was without her help. Then she turned her head and looked with determination into Molly’s face. “We must make sure that these murders do not happen. We have only six days.”
Molly nodded. “Charlie will know what to do.” Then she looked sideways at Amanda. “And Lord Nathaniel. We could tell him.”
Amanda turned in surprise. “What? No. Who knows how he would react?” She thought of the times he had ridiculed her. The memory of his smug expression after she had expressed empathy for the rabble who had ransacked her uncle’s home made her ill. She cringed in embarrassment anew, even knowing he was wrong. She shook her head. “He will think me such a simpleton. I can barely stand my own stupidity. And he will never help us. He would tell Father straightaway. We have to figure this out another way.”
Molly reached for the letter and reread it. “At least we know where they are to meet.”
Amanda jumped up. “We can trap them all, at that very meeting.” She started pacing in front of Molly, her heart filled with hope. “What can we do? We could borrow a gun . . .”
Molly gasped. “No! We will not!”
Amanda turned to her with a smile. “I have excellent aim, you know. But if you are that opposed, let’s think of something else.”
Molly sniffed. “Thank you. Every man there will likely have a gun as well, you know. You’d be shot straightaway.”
Amanda nodded and kept pacing. “To begin, we should inform the magistrate.”
Molly thought for a moment. “Do you think he will believe us?”
Amanda started to respond, “Of course!” but then stopped. She wasn’t really certain he would. She imagined trying to explain the whole of it to anyone and realized it sounded a bit far-fetched. They might wonder if she was daft. Her claim would be difficult, if not impossible, to prove without sufficient evidence. She would rather leave her father’s name out of the story entirely.
“You know, Molly, they might not believe us. For this, I really do believe we are going to need Charlie. Again.” She shook her head. As if Charlie weren’t already in enough trouble because of them.
Once they had developed the beginnings of a plan and they both could see a possibility of success, they succumbed to their exhaustion, yawning, and Molly slumped on the bed.
Amanda stood and tried to wiggle her way out of her dress.
“What are you doing, my lady?” Molly giggled into her hands.
“I know you are as tired as I, so I am trying to undress without help.” She sighed in frustration. “But I cannot.” She turned around so that Molly had easier access to the back of her dress and stays. Molly made quick work of the lot of it and soon had Amanda ready for her bath. Amanda rested a hand across Molly’s shoulders. “You really are a wonder, Molly. Thank you.”
She blushed from the praise. “It is my pleasure, my lady. I’ll call for some hot water—your bath has surely gone cold with all our chatter. Let us not forget that helping you is also part of my employ, one which I am pleased to have.”
Gratitude warmed Amanda’s heart. “I am happy to hear you say that. Now, please, go rest. I’ll await my water and bathe myself. You can call for it to be emptied in the morning. We have much to do tomorrow, and there is also the dinner in the evening.”
After Molly left and Amanda had finished bathing and donning her nightclothes, Amanda moaned in frustration. Attending all these events and parties and dinners and musicales was becoming a real obstacle in her ability to help spread the message of equality and freedom in England.
What a difference a month in London had made for her. The thought of men dancing and attendant upon her and the other debutantes used to thrill her. Now, the effort felt so meaningless. Had the ton nothing else to occupy their time?
She sat back in her chair. By this time tomorrow, everything should be set in motion to stop one of the most nefarious designs of their generation. And most likely they would be rid of the awful burr of Jack Bender as well. It felt wonderful to be involved in something important. Great satisfaction filled her as she finished brushing out her hair and then climbed into bed, pulling the covers up to her chin.