The Earl of Morrey

Chapter 2-1

2

“Married,” Letty Fordyce muttered for the tenth time as she, Gillian, and James walked up the steps into their townhouse.

“Letty, perhaps we should have that talk now,” her older brother said.

A footman removed her cloak and took her gloves as she turned to glare at her brother. “Talk? James, what is there to say? I barely know the man! What’s more, he grabbed me from out of the shadows and held a knife to my throat! Then he just kissed me like . . .” Letty couldn’t finish.

“Yes, well, I trust you when you say it happened, I do, but there’s more to discuss than . . . knives and kisses.”

“What could be more important than that?”

At this, Gillian spoke up. “Letty, my brother is involved in matters that require the utmost discretion. Please allow James to have a moment to explain.”

“Yes, that’s all I ask.”

Gillian put her arm through Letty’s in a show of support as James gestured for them to follow him to his study. Once inside, James closed the door and spoke in a low voice.

“We could not speak of this at the Allertons’ house—it was far too dangerous.”

“Speak of what? I am tired of all this secrecy and whispers!”

Tonight had been both terrifying and confusing, in turn. All she had done was go to the retiring room to help Lady Edwards with her hair. Then Lord Morrey had gripped her from behind and held a knife to her throat. Letty had been frightened, until she discovered it was Lord Morrey. Then he’d pulled the blade away, yet still held her captive by her wrist. A strange and unexpected flare of heat had begun in her lower belly at still being in his grasp. Before she could even process what any of that meant, the misunderstanding had been followed by a very real attack on them by an unknown assailant.

But she had found herself drawn, clearly against her better judgment, to this new and dangerous side of Lord Morrey. She had always thought him undeniably handsome, with his dark hair and flashing gray eyes, and there was such an intense seriousness to him that had been a mystery to her. Letty had seen a different part of him tonight, and she found she liked this new, dark side to the gentleman who had been the focal point of so many of her more stirring dreams at night.

“Morrey is a spy,” James said, still using that hushed tone.

“A spy?” Letty echoed the word, still baffled. “If he is a spy, why would you and Gillian know about it? It seems as though that would rather be kept a secret.”

“Yes, I quite agree, but when I married Gillian, the man took me into his confidence and told me about it, at least in broad strokes. He did not want me to worry, should something happen to him. He wanted me to know that whatever befell him was in the course of his duty to the Crown. I asked his permission to tell Gillian, and he agreed I could, knowing he could trust his sister with the knowledge of his occupation.”

“A spy,” Letty muttered. It didn’t make sense, his secrecy and veiled discussions with Lady Edwards about messages and the way they’d been attacked. She’d been in such a state of shock that she hadn’t yet fully processed what had happened to her this evening.

“His duties are not what you would expect. They are far more dangerous,” James added even more quietly.

Letty waited for her brother to continue.

“He removes threats of a human sort.” James seemed to be wording this carefully, and it did take Letty a moment to unravel the meaning behind it.

“You mean he’s an assassin? He kills people?” she uttered in horror.

“If he must, but only those who attempt to harm others, such as the person who tried to harm Lady Edwards,” Gillian added. “Please believe me, Letty—Adam meant you no harm with his actions tonight. I’m not in agreement with James that you should marry him, but I do ask that you believe me when I tell you he wouldn’t have hurt you.”

She now understood why he had grabbed her, how he’d thought she was the threat to Lady Edwards, but it was all too much to take in. Still, against her better judgment, she would give Lord Morrey credit this evening for being the gentleman Gillian insisted he was.

“He did save my life,” she conceded. “When he saw the pistol at the doorframe, he shoved me and Lady Edwards to the floor and shielded us.” Letty would have to make peace with the thought that she was soon to marry a man who took the lives of others, yet had saved hers.

“Morrey is a good man. Since Gillian and I married, I’ve come to know him better,” James added. “Marriage to him will protect you.”

“From what? I am not a spy,” Letty argued.

Her brother crossed his arms over his chest. “Whoever fired that pistol has great reason to believe you are a spy. You were standing in a room with two spies—speaking to them, in fact. It’s not as though you can just disappear to the country for a spell and be safe. You might as well have put your face on every paper and declared yourself working for the Home Office. But if you marry Morrey, he can help keep you safe. He has special skills and talents suited precisely to that duty.”

Letty looked to Gillian, her only supporter in this matter. “But James can keep me safe, can’t he? You know I fear scandal, but I won’t bow to it and wed simply because society dictates it must be so.”

Gillian glanced at her husband before replying. “You know I agree, Letty. But James is right—your reputation is nothing compared to the danger you will face if these spies believe you are important to their ends, which I’m sadly certain they will. My brother wouldn’t have suggested marriage if he didn’t think it was necessary. He never planned on marrying, given the dangers, but now—now he must . . . and you must. Surely marrying Adam isn’t such a terrible fate. He is a good man, a kind man, a fair man, and he’ll keep you safe.” Gillian touched her stomach and looked at James. “If it wasn’t for Gabriel, we would do our best to protect you here, but our son could be put in danger if someone intent on harming you came into this house.”

A crushing sense of guilt settled on Letty’s shoulders. Here she was demanding that James protect her, when she should be thinking of James and Gillian’s new babe. Gabriel would indeed be in danger if someone came here looking for her.

“I am a selfish creature,” she said, acid eating away at her stomach. “You’re right. Gabriel must come first. I am a grown woman. I can take care of myself. James, I will move out of this townhouse tomorrow and find another.”

“Nonsense,” James said. “I’m not going to simply buy you a home to run away to. I am putting my foot down, Letty. You’ll marry Morrey. Do you understand?”

Letty clasped her hands in front of her, staring at the floor. James had never spoken to her like this, like a child needing to be chastised for bad behavior. She wanted to yell and tell him she wouldn’t marry anyone unless she chose to, but she also knew he was right.

Marrying Morrey was the intelligent thing to do. The last thing she wanted was to be seen as a fool which meant she must accept the situation. She was going to be married to Lord Morrey.

And it wasn’t as if she hadn’t daydreamed about that. Ever since they had met, she’d been bewitched by the quiet intensity of his eyes, the sensuality of his full mouth, and the soft but deep rumble of his voice. The man was a mystery cloaked in an enigma clouded by riddles.

“Please, Letty, you can trust my brother to take care of you. I know this all came about suddenly, but give it time. It might yet be the best thing to happen to the both of you,” Gillian said. Letty saw hope burning in her sister-in-law’s gray eyes, eyes so like Lord Morrey’s.

“Gillian . . . is he the sort of man who could . . . could come to love me?”

Letty had few desires in the world that mattered to her so much as to be loved. She had been blessed with looks and a well-to-do family. Her circumstances had made it possible for her to wait to marry. She was fortunate enough that she could wait to find a gentleman who would, in fact, adore her, and whom she could adore in exchange. It wasn’t so silly as wanting to be loved for the sake of needing adoration—it was more complicated than that.

She was a smart woman, and she lived in an age where women were barely above possessions in a man’s eyes. But she clung to the hope that someday her children, especially her daughters, would live in a better time, one where women were equals. Where they would be valued for their thoughts, their knowledge, their education, and not just their looks, money, or birthing abilities. She held her desires for that particular future close to her heart, never letting anyone know.

“He will come to love you.” Gillian clasped her hands, squeezing them. “He knows your value, Letty.”

Gillian had once been a lady’s maid, and she knew better than most that women held value. She understood what Letty had meant.

Letty faced her brother again. “Very well. I will marry Lord Morrey the day after tomorrow.”

James’s shoulders drooped in relief. He came over to her and placed his hands on her shoulders.

“Thank you. I know what this means to you to accept this situation, and I thank you for doing it. It makes me feel like I haven’t failed you, to know that you’ll have the best protection, better than what I can give you.”

This—this was the brother she had grown up with. The man who cared about her, who truly did see her value and believe in her. He was acknowledging that though he’d commanded her to marry, it was still within her power to refuse. Her acceptance had been the right thing to do, and he was proud of her for it. This, above all else, made her want to cry. She was putting away her childish dreams of love and equality with a husband in order to protect her family. It was what women had done for centuries, and she wouldn’t be any different.

“You had better go to bed, my dear. You’ve had a trying evening,and have a long day ahead of you tomorrow.” James kissed her forehead before Letty left the study and headed to her bedchamber. As she climbed the stairs, she tried to arrange the crowded thoughts that tonight’s events had caused. If she was to marry Lord Morrey, she must be a better master of herself, especially her emotions. But tonight—tonight she couldn’t do that. She wished to curl up in her bed and cry like a child, and she hated herself for that weakness.

Her lady’s maid, Mina, was laying out a nightgown and a robe de chambre.

“Good evening, m’lady,” Mina greeted her. Mina was from Scotland and had been her mother’s lady’s maid. Since Letty’s mother had passed away, Mina had become almost like a second mother to her. Her dark hair, now threaded with gray, was pulled back in a comfortable but unfashionable bun.

“Mina,” Letty said, her voice suddenly breaking as fresh tears filled her eyes.

“What’s this now, love?” Mina came around the bed to take Letty into her arms.

“I am to be married in two days,” she said.

“Married? What? To whom?” her maid asked, stunned.

“To Lord Morrey.” Letty sniffed, feeling the damnable tears coming.

“Oh, my poor dear. Let’s sit, and you can tell me all about it.”

Letty and Mina sat at the foot of her bed, and she told the maid all that had transpired at the ball and afterward, even the part about Morrey being a spy.

“But you must keep it all a secret, Mina, please.” Letty knew she shouldn’t be telling servants something like this, but she had to talk with someone about it, someone aside from James and Gillian.

“I have never once betrayed you, my lady, and I won’t start now.” The maid gave her a gentle nudge. “Let’s get you undressed. Shall I bring you a glass of milk and a few biscuits, perhaps one of Cook’s tarts if there is one left?”