The Earl of Morrey

Chapter 1-2

“Did you catch them?” Lady Edwards asked as she brushed out the wrinkles in her gown.

He shook his head. “A crowd is gathering, searching for whoever fired that pistol. You must go at once, my lady. We cannot be seen together.”

The lady spy nodded and rushed to the open window that led into the gardens outside. Thankfully, they were on the first floor, and Lady Edwards could drop three feet onto the grass outside. She gathered her skirts and slipped through the opening, vanishing into the darkness beyond.

“Godspeed, my lady,” Adam said as he closed the window behind her. Then he turned toward Letty.

“Lord Morrey, what—?”

“Lady Leticia, I’m sorry about this.”

“About what? What just happened? Why did you hold a knife to my throat?”

“I’m sorry about the fact that I have to kiss you now. I cannot be seen in here alone, not if I wish to avoid being connected to that pistol.”

Letty’s eyes widened as the sounds of the men in the corridor grew louder. “Why can’t you be seen alone? Wait . . . kiss?”

He swept Letty into his arms, holding her tightly to him. And he claimed her parted lips with his. She drew in a shocked breath as he kissed her soundly.

Lord, the woman tasted sweet, too sweet. At any other moment he would have gotten drunk on her kiss. But he kept his focus on the closed door, waiting for the moment it would burst open. When it did, he purposely held Letty a moment too long, making sure the men who’d entered the room saw the girl was quite clearly compromised.

“Good God, it’s Morrey!” one man said. Another man called out for Adam to let the girl go.

Adam stepped half a foot back from Letty, his hand still possessively gripping her waist, implying that they had been about to make love. Then he faced the men and dropped his hold on the poor young woman whose reputation he had just put the proverbial bullet through.

“Morrey, what the bloody hell do you think you’re doing with my sister?” James demanded. He started toward Adam, vengeance in his eyes that Adam knew would likely end up with his face a bloody mess if this matter was not resolved.

“I . . .” Adam struggled for words as he pushed Letty behind him, keeping her well out of harm’s way, lest her brother take a swing at him. He’d given Lady Edwards a chance to escape, but now he was to face an entirely different peril that he could not escape.

“We heard a pistol go off,” a man said in confusion. Adam recognized him as Jonathan St. Laurent. “We feared something had happened. We thought it came from this room.”

“I can’t say I heard anything—I was rather preoccupied,” Adam said with a rakish grin. He’d become a good actor in the last two years, showing only what he wished and hiding what he needed to.

“That much is clear,” Jonathan snorted, his gaze fixed on Adam’s chest.

Adam reached up to touch his waistcoat and realized the two buttons he’d undone to free his dagger were still out of their slits. It painted the situation with Letty in an even worse light because it looked as though he’d been in the process of removing his waistcoat.

“We should let Pembroke handle this,” another man in the party said. “She is his sister, after all.”

“Yes, leave him to me,” James growled. “Continue your search.”

The other men left the room, leaving James alone with Adam and Letty.

Pembroke closed the door, trapping Adam in the room with him and Letty. “Morrey, what the bloody hell happened?” James demanded, his eyes straying to his sister, who stood nearly silent behind Adam. “I thought you told me to leave because you were up to something dangerous, and then I find you kissing my sister. I expect there to be a damn good explanation for this.”

Adam saw the hurt and fury in James’s eyes. He had every right to assume the worst. Adam would have, had he been in James’s place.

“There is, but I cannot explain here. It may not be safe,” Adam replied.

James rubbed his closed eyes with his thumb and forefinger. “You’re telling me that what happened tonight was connected to . . . ?”

“Yes.” Adam saw that what he was carefully conveying to James was finally sinking in. “And you know what it means for her.” He nodded his head toward Letty.

“I know . . . but I can help her weather the scandal. It doesn’t have to end the way you expect. I won’t force that upon her, not if she doesn’t want it.”

“Unfortunately, I think you must.” Adam kept his tone quiet. “I’m the only one who can protect her. She’s been seen, James. Before the night is through, she’ll have been made as one of mine, and she will not be safe.”

James’s eyes widened and then narrowed as he looked between his sister and Adam. Yes, the man was finally coming to understand what Morrey was saying.

“Then we must make a few decisions, mustn’t we?”

“We must,” Morrey agreed.

“The sooner the better, I suppose?”

“Yes. I’ll go to the Doctors’ Commons tomorrow. We can tell everyone we had a secret understanding and plan to marry within a few days.”

“It will be enough.” James sighed heavily. His reluctance to agree to this plan was obviously still strong.

“Wait—marriage?” Letty suddenly seemed to realize what they were speaking about.

“Yes, you and Morrey. Immediately.” James glanced at Adam, an apologetic look in his eyes.

“James, you can’t—”

“Letty, after what happened tonight, there are reasons that require you to comply with this decision. You know I would never want to force this, but you must trust me. This is the only way forward that keeps you safe.”

“Safe? Safe from him? This man just held a knife to my throat!”

James shot a startled glare at Adam, renewed worry and anger apparent in his expression. “What?”

“A misunderstanding. I thought she was the threat I’d been sensing. Then the real threat revealed itself and fired. That was the pistol you heard from the ballroom. Whoever took that shot, they saw your sister’s face clearly and likely knew that she’d been talking to Lady Edwards.”

“Christ.” James began to pace the floor of the retiring room. Then he looked at his sister again. “Letty, I’ve never asked you to obey me for any reason, but that changes tonight. You must trust me now when I say you will marry Morrey. All will be explained to you when it’s safe.”

“James, you cannot ask this of me—please. It isn’t fair. You know what I want, and this isn’t it.” It was such a soft plea, a little sister asking her older brother for his love, his trust, his protection. Adam watched in dread as James had to deny his sister what she needed by a simple shake of his head. No decent brother could form words to deny such a plea, and James was a good brother. All he could do was deny her with his actions.

“Yes, it is unfair,” Adam agreed, turning Letty’s attention away from her brother. “And for that I’m sorry, Lady Leticia, but it must be done. Do not blame your brother for this. It is my fault. I bear the blame for it.”

“No.” She shook her head violently. “How can I marry you? I barely know you!”

“Many couples marry knowing each other for less time than we have,” Adam said, keeping his tone gentle. It was clear Letty was still in shock. “Pembroke, allow me to have a moment with her.”

“I should stay.” James’s overprotectiveness would have amused him at any other time.

“Just a moment is all I need.”

“Very well,” James allowed. “But only a moment. My sister has been through enough tonight. I would like to get her safely home before more daggers or pistols come into play.” He stepped outside.

Adam grasped Letty’s hips again, pulling her toward him. The blue silk of her gown was soft beneath his palms, filling him with desire. Yet she wasn’t affected the same way he was. She was trembling, though he could hardly blame her under the circumstances.

“I will explain all that has happened tonight when I can, when it’s safe. Please know that I’m sorry for how this came about. I will be a good and loyal husband to you. I swear it upon my life.”

Tears gathered in her lovely dark-brown eyes. He reached up and brushed one away.

“Do not cry, please,” he begged. “It will be all right. I promise.”

Then he stole a soft, lingering kiss from her lips. The sort of kiss he wished he’d given her that first time. She went still in his arms, but not stiff with terror as she had been earlier. He nuzzled her cheek and held her close. The poor innocent creature, barely twenty, a full decade younger than him, was to have her life upended all because she’d sought to help Lady Edwards fix her hair. When he moved his face back to look down at her, all he saw was dazed confusion.

“There, there,” he said, his natural need to comfort intensified for this beautiful young woman.

“Do you wish to marry me?” she asked him.

“I had no thought to marry. Not in a long while. But I am glad it will be to you.” It was the truth. He had abandoned the idea of such things the night John had perished. But now Letty had need of his protection, and this was the only way he could be there to protect her at all hours. He felt like a bastard for having a small flare of happiness that a beauty with such a soft heart would be his. From the moment he’d laid eyes upon her, he’d had a fleeting rebellious thought that she would have made him a wonderful countess. Now she would be his countess, and he could not shake his sudden excitement and gratitude at the thought.

“Lord Morrey—” Letty began, but the door opened, and her brother came back inside.

“I have your cloak, Letty. We need to leave. I found Gillian. She’s waiting out front.” James held up a cream-colored cloak lined with blue silk that matched her blue-and-gold gown. Letty allowed her brother to slip it over her arms, and she buttoned it up with trembling hands.

“Pay a call on us tomorrow, and we’ll discuss the ceremony and the matter of Letty’s dowry.” James held his hat under one arm and nodded brusquely at Adam.

Adam nodded back and watched the pair leave the retiring room. Once he was alone, he searched the chamber until he spotted the small hole in the wall where the bullet had struck. He retrieved his dagger and dug the bullet from the wall. He chipped at the hole, scratching it until it looked like the damage to the wall had been done by something else.

He searched the room until he found a chair about the right height, and then he pushed the tip of the chair into the hole. Now it looked as if someone had simply shoved the chair into the wall at an angle, causing the damage. The last thing he needed was proof of what had happened in this room. He needed London society to think that he simply had been lost in passion with Letty, not thwarting a French assassin.

He slipped the bullet into the tiny pocket of his waistcoat and left the retiring room.

Given the tight crowd now at the front door, Adam surmised that there had been a mad dash upon the poor grooms to fetch coaches and horses. Lord and Lady Allerton were attempting to oversee the mass exodus from their home.

“I don’t understand it, Henry,” Lady Allerton murmured to her husband. “A pistol? Why would anyone . . .” She trailed off and wrung her hands in her red satin skirts.

Adam slipped between pacing gentlemen and packs of gossiping ladies until he made it to the front of the line. The next groom who rushed up the steps of the Allerton house was breathing hard and caught Adam’s summoning wave.

“Bring around my coach. The one with the Morrey crest.” He knew all the servants of great households like the Allertons were trained to recognize the crests of the noble houses for occasions such as these.

“Yes, my lord.”

Adam moved out of the hot crush of the crowd and waited outside for his coach to be brought forward. He donned his cloak and climbed inside the vehicle once it was in front of the Allerton house. Then he sat back in the darkness for an instant before he realized something was wrong.

He lunged forward, his dagger pressed against the man’s throat. He would have laughed in triumph at discovering this hidden man, but he felt a second blade pressed against his own throat.

“Easy, Morrey,” a familiar voice chuckled. Adam relaxed, and the weapons were lowered.

“Russell, what the bloody hell are you thinking, sneaking into my coach?” He sat back in his seat and tucked the knife in his waistcoat. Avery Russell did the same. Adam pulled one of the curtains away from the window so that he could better see the spymaster. “Did you find Lady Edwards?”

Avery nodded. “Barely. I saw her escaping from the window after the gunshot. I feared I was too late. We had but a moment to speak in the garden, and I received the message.”

“You almost were too late.” Adam leaned his head back against the cushioned wall of the coach. “Tonight was a disaster.”

“No one was hurt, and Lady Edwards gave me her message,” Avery mused.

“No one is hurt, but I’m now to be married.”

Avery’s eyes widened. “What?”

Adam explained how he’d attacked Letty, and how he’d seen to it that Lady Edwards had the chance to escape safely. Then, to keep suspicion off himself, he’d kissed Letty publicly, making it look as though they’d met for a secret romantic assignation.

Avery fought off a grin. “You’re to marry Pembroke’s sister?”

“Go ahead and laugh,” Adam grumbled.

“I’m not laughing at you, or her. Just the ludicrousness of the situation. Letty is a sweet girl, very intelligent, but not suited to a life of danger,” Avery said with more seriousness.

“I know, but what can I do? The spy who fired upon me tonight had a good look at Letty’s face. They’ll assume she’s working with me or Lady Edwards. Pembroke won’t be able to guard her as well as I can. She’ll be safer being married to me.”

Avery was studying him now. “Marriage won’t be enough. She’ll need you as a protective shadow until we can discover who attacked you at the Allerton ball.”

“I plan to be that shadow,” Adam agreed. “I only dread knowing Letty will hate me for it.”

“I believe Letty is due more credit than you would give her.” Avery tapped the roof of the coach with a fist, and it rolled to a stop.

Adam glanced at the darkened street. “You’re leaving here?”

“Like you, the shadows are my friends.” Avery stepped out into the waiting gloom and soon vanished.

Adam called out to his driver to continue home. He had much to think on and much to plan, including the last thing he’d ever expected to plan—a wedding.