Hermione leaped up from Jasper’s lap and Jasper stood, slipping his arm around her waist.
“What a sweet couple you make,” said Payne with a shake of his head as he leveled his pistol at them. “I truly did not have anything against you, Lady Mainwaring. If I had to open the club to a lady, you were as fine a driver as any lady I’d ever seen behind the reins.”
“But you only invited me to join because of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern,” she said flatly.
If she thought he’d be shamed by her accusation, Hermione was to be grossly mistaken.
“I’m afraid so,” he agreed. “But truly, you are a splendid driver. It’s too bad you had the bad fortune to buy those bloody grays out from under me. I’m still not sure how they made it to Tatt’s. My ridiculous brother, in all likelihood. But the minute I saw them I knew they were the ones we’d nicked from Lord Carston in Yorkshire. And I couldn’t take the chance that he’d see them being driven about town. Imagine my shock when your man of business bought them before they were even put to auction.”
“What must you have thought when you saw me drive them to the promenade that day,” Hermione said with a shake of her head.
“I’m afraid what I was thinking wasn’t fit for a lady’s ears,” he said with a rueful grin. “I was so relieved when Saintcrow came and took them before the procession could begin. It’s too bad my brother had to kill him, but the damned fool got greedy. He had agreed with Robert to hand them over when he won them from your father, and then once he had them in his possession he threatened to turn us all over to the authorities if we didn’t pay his price. And we couldn’t let that happen. They hang horse thieves, you know…”
Clearly he assumed that she’d not realized the horses were stolen because she was a silly lady, Hermione surmised. She never thought she’d be grateful for being thought foolish because of her sex, but she would be more than happy to accept his derision in this instance.
“Why didn’t you take them from Lord Saintcrow’s stables immediately?” Jasper asked, keeping Hermione close to him.
“Robert was interrupted at Saintcrow’s house,” said Payne with a grimace. “I ended up slipping out through the servant’s entrance. Was a close thing, too. And then whoever it was contacted the authorities and neither of us dared to go back until it was too late. By the time I got there Saintcrow’s damned heir had already sold them to you, Mainwaring. I have to admit you were the last man I’d expected to buy them considering your antipathy for driving.”
“They were a wedding gift for my bride, Payne,” Jasper drawled. “Unfortunately they were stolen from my stables not long after.”
“Sorry about that, old fellow,” Lord Payne said with a laugh. “Nothing personal, you understand.”
“I’m afraid I find assaults on my wife very personal indeed, Payne,” Jasper said with a growl.
Hermione was startled to see that instead of remorse, Lord Payne looked like a schoolboy who’d been caught in a prank.
“I couldn’t very well let her see me,” he said reasonably, as if it could all be explained away. “Besides, she seems well enough now. If you want her out of harm’s way, then keep her on a shorter leash.”
She felt Jasper stiffen beside her. She knew he was angrier with Payne than he was letting on. It was one of the reasons she loved him.
The thought startled her and she realized it was true. She loved her husband.
If only she hadn’t been so foolish as to realize it when they were being held at gunpoint.
“I’ll have to keep your advice in mind, Payne,” Jasper said, drawing her from her thoughts. “But just now, I think I’d prefer it if you would simply put down your pistol and let Lady Mainwaring and myself go on about our business.”
But Payne wasn’t in any mood for giving concessions. “I’m afraid I can’t do that, old fellow,” he said with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “You two know far too much about my business now. Do you really think I would have told you all of that if I intended to let you go on about your business?”
“I think you don’t wish to compound your crimes with the murder of a lady,” Jasper said firmly. “I think you are, despite your illegal behavior thus far, a man who abhors hurting women. Else you’d have killed Miss Fleetwood when she discovered her husband’s involvement with your schemes.”
At the mention of Miss Fleetwood or rather Mrs. Fleetwood, Hermione couldn’t hold back a gasp of shock. But it must be true because Lord Payne’s jaw tightened and if his eyes were able to fire bullets Jasper would be dead.
And suddenly she recalled that day she’d seen Mr. Fleetwood kissing his sister in the garden. Of course they were husband and wife.
“I might have known you’d guess my sister-in-law’s true relationship with my brother,” Lord Payne said with a scowl. “If you were hoping to save yourself and your lady wife, I fear revealing that was not the way to go about it, Mainwaring. Their brother and sister act came in handy. With Saintcrow and with you. Indeed her faux betrothal to Saintcrow allowed us to learn what your little wife knew about our movements on the day of your wedding.”
“I should have known she was lying,” Hermione said with a shake of her head. “She was trying to gain my trust and sympathy. And even today I came to see if she needed my help.”
“I fear she was truly asking for your help, today,” Payne ground out. “And she will pay for that as soon as I dispense with the two of you.”
“Oh, but I disagree,” Jasper said coolly. “For I fear that at the moment Miss Fleetwood is in the capable hands of my friend the Duke of Trent.”
Hermione was shocked to see that Payne’s expression could turn harder. “What do you mean?”
“Just that the Duke of Trent has removed Mrs. Fleetwood from her husband’s house and has taken her to stay in a safe location. I have every reason to believe that she has been filling his ears with all sorts of tales. And no doubt Trent has alerted my friends at the Home Office to the fact that you are currently here in the late Lord Upperton’s home.”
Instead of looking unhappy at Jasper’s revelation, Lord Payne actually smiled. “But there is no reason for that to alarm them,” he said, grinning. “I own this house.”
Hermione’s heart sank. She’d had no idea that Lord Payne owned the house she and her father had rented. Could Lord Payne really talk his way out of the grasp of the authorities by explaining his presence in the house? She could almost hear him revealing that he thought he’d come by to look over his property now that Lord Upperton was dead and that he’d thought he heard intruders. It would be so terribly easy. Especially since most of the servants had come with the house and were loyal to him.
But Jasper didn’t seem to notice. “I know that,” he said with an answering smile. “And the one next door. Do you think we would have investigated Fleetwood without finding out who owned his rental house? Sometimes it’s the small connections between people that end up tying the noose, so to speak.”
“Then what do I possibly have to lose?” Lord Payne asked with a snarl. And to Hermione’s horror, he lifted his pistol and aimed it at Jasper.
“No!” she cried out, even as Jasper pushed her to the floor. And before she knew what was happening a loud gunshot rang out.
* * *
“Jasper!” she shouted, struggling to her feet, not caring if Lord Payne came at her. He’d used his shot, now he would have to kill her with his bare hands.
“Easy,” Jasper said, helping her to her feet. “Hermione, it’s all right. I haven’t been shot.”
And to her shock, when she opened her eyes, she saw that he told the truth. He was whole. And unharmed.
Turning, she saw that Lord Payne was on the floor, a gaping wound in the back of his head.
“Don’t look,” Jasper said, turning her head into his shoulder.
“But how?” she asked, gripping him hard against her in gratitude for his being unharmed.
“That was me, I’m afraid, Lady Mainwaring,” said the Duke of Trent from the doorway. “I’m sorry for the mess, but I couldn’t let him make a widow of you so soon after the wedding. What sort of friend would I be if I allowed such a thing to happen?”
The absurdity of it made Hermione laugh. Which quickly turned into crying.
Jasper held her tight against him and soothed her, stroking his hand over her back. “I think it’s time I took you home,” he said in a low voice.
And to her surprise, he slipped his hands beneath her knees and lifted her into his arms.
“I’m taking your carriage, Trent,” he told his friend.
And to Hermione’s astonishment, her husband, who did not drive, lifted her into the curricle, and climbed up beside her and drove them home.
* * *
“I told you before, my dear, that just because I choose not to drive does not mean I cannot,” Jasper said as he carried Hermione from the carriage and into his town house.
Not batting an eyelash, Greaves gave no indication that there was anything unusual in having the master of the house carry the lady of house inside. “Shall I have cook send supper to her ladyship’s bedchamber, my lord?”
“Yes, thank you, Greaves,” he said, not bothering to stop. “And please tell my mother and sisters that we are not to be disturbed.”
It was likely that Sir Richard would require him to answer some questions but the Home Office could wait until tomorrow to debrief him about what Lord Payne had confessed to. From what Trent had said, Fleetwood had been apprehended and he would likely keep them quite busy for the rest of the evening. He would certainly have a great deal more to tell them than Jasper would. He had little doubt that Payne had told his tale with an attempt to paint himself in the cleverest light possible. Unless Fleetwood told the unvarnished truth, they might never know the whole story.
“All this time,” Hermione said, once he’d set her down on the counterpane of her bed, “I thought you were so traumatized by your father’s death that you’d avoided driving altogether.”
“It isn’t something I enjoy,” he admitted, removing his boots then climbing up onto the bed beside her. When she turned to wrap her arms around him, he felt a peace that he only knew in her presence. “But I can do it. If absolutely necessary.”
“Evidently,” she said with a shake of her head. “And this whole time I was feeling superior because I had this skill that you didn’t.”
“I’m hardly as skilled as you are behind the reins, my dear,” he said, kissing the top of her head. “In fact, I doubt there are many men in the country who are better than you. And that is not just a husband’s pride speaking.”
He watched with pleasure as she preened. How on earth had he managed to exist without this woman in his bed, in his life? He knew he had done so, but it was difficult to imagine his life if she were to suddenly vanish from it.
“A penny for them,” she said, looking up at him from beneath her dark lashes.
He kissed the end of her nose. “I was thinking that I’m very much afraid you’ve become indispensable for me.”
He watched as his words sank in, caused a blush of pleasure to rise in her cheeks.
“Truly?” she asked in a soft voice.
And suddenly he knew that he couldn’t go one more minute without telling her exactly how he felt.
“The thing is, Hermione,” he said carefully, not wanting to ruin the most important words of his life, “it’s been some time since I was able to think of my life without you in it. I very much am afraid I’ve fallen in love with you.”
And to his horror, her eyes filled with tears.
Damn it, he cursed himself. It was too soon. He’d known it was, but he’d been buoyed by the moment and the excitement of the afternoon.
“It’s all right,” he said hurriedly. “You don’t have to feel the same. Please pretend as if I never said anything.”
But to his shock, she sobbed harder. “Please, Hermione. Don’t.”
“I’m not crying from sorrow, you silly man,” she said, slapping him without much force on the shoulder. “I’m crying from happiness.”
“Why?” he asked suspiciously, not ready to believe the evidence of his own eyes quite yet.
“Because I love you, too, Jasper,” she said with a watery smile.
“You do?” he asked, shocked despite himself. He was so sure she’d be resistant to the idea.
She shook her head sadly. “It looks as if I’m going to have to spend the entire evening proving it to you,” she said with a sigh.
“I think that would be for the best,” he said with a grin. “In fact, I really think you’ll need to do it every evening for the rest of our lives.”
And that’s just what she did.