13. 11 September, 1826

Great Queen Street

Col smoothed out the message just delivered from a man dressed in footman"s livery that he couldn"t identify. The servant"s uniform was not recognizable as that of any great house he knew.

Before reading the message, his eyes were drawn to the all-too-familiar signature on the bottom of the sheet of fine vellum--Captain El, now the Duchess of Chelmsford. With that observation, he went on high alert as he skimmed over the words.

I have reliable information from our mutual friend in the Rutherford Gang that you should be aware there is another runner out to destroy you at Bow Street. T.R. had only a sketch of information, but I"m wondering if perhaps the man trying to discredit you might be our shared enemy...

Yours, Etc., Captain Eleanor Whitcombe

Col mentally sorted through all the current runners, trying to decide which one might possibly harbor ill will against him. There was a lot of "side business" all of the runners engaged in, not all of it necessarily savory. He"d tried to keep all of his side investigation business as above board as possible, but he realized many of his cohorts did not have the same intent.

To complicate matters, the establishment of the "Peelers" had sent a cold wave of shock through the minions of Bow Street. He feared many of them were twisting the system to line their own pockets in the event the city might eventually phase them out of existence.

He always tries to protect his back, because of jealousy over the many plum assignments he"d had over the years; however, being forewarned, he"d make sure to be doubly careful in the future. Thank God for Captain El"s wide-ranging network of spies.

12 September,1826

Somewhere Along Maiden Lane

A long walk had cleared the mists of anger from Adrienne"s head, and she was beginning to see how Obadiah had a right to his anger over her deception several nights before. However, she still felt a little stung by how he"d disregarded her emphatic refusal to bring a child into the world.

She could still feel a bit of the burn on her face from his beard stubble from the night before when she"d repaid him in kind. She realized he"d probably be angry with her for a very long time over what she"d done in retaliation, so she intended to give him a wide berth for a while.

She looked up and realized she"d been walking aimlessly for some time, without paying attention to her surroundings. Turning quickly down a side alley, she darted to the end and then left before being confronted by two men who apparently were cleverer than Adrienne. When she reached down for the dagger she always kept inside her walking boot, a third person grabbed her from behind and shoved a rag over her mouth with something smelling cloyingly sweet.

12 September,1826

Goodrum"s House of Pleasure

Obadiah sat in front of Captain El, Duchess of Chelmsford, with his head in his hands. He vowed he would not show emotion, but when he lifted his head to face her, a bit of moisture leaked from the side of his eye. "I have to find her, but I know I can"t do it on my own."

She came around the side of her mammoth desk and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Of course you can"t do this alone, you big hulk." She sat on the edge of the desk and let one long, booted leg swing free. "Where should we start looking?"

"Well, I think Dickie has been been working on trying to find out if the Marquess was behind the attack on her. Maybe you could call him in to see if he"s seen her?"

When she moved behind the desk to a bell pull, the door opened soon after with one of her footmen guards on the other side. "Send as many of our men as are free to see if they can find Dickie Jones and bring him back here to me. Search all his usual haunts."

The guard nodded to Captain El, and then Obadiah, before leaving quickly.

She turned back to Obadiah and glanced toward the still open door. "What are you waiting for?"

"I"m afraid I haven"t told you everything."

Her eyes widened. "Proceed."

"She may be, um, with child, and she"s terribly angry with me. If I can find her, I mean to marry her as soon as possible."

There was a long silence before she spoke again. "Well, then, Mr. Lassen, I shall put Percy to work getting a special license and readying his house on Berkley Square for a wedding. And the Earl of Framlingwood should be good for putting up a decent dowry."

Terror filled Obadiah"s lungs and he had difficulty voicing his thoughts. "What if...what if she won"t have me?"

"You"re just going to have to grow into the man she wants you to be and do whatever it takes to make sure she"ll accept your proposal." She stood suddenly and gave him a look that meant their meeting was over. He turned and headed out of her office followed by a dash down onto the main floor of Goodrum"s and then out onto the crowded streets of London.

12 September,1826

Earl of Framlingwood"s Home

Grosvenor Square

Derek Welkirk, Earl of Framlingwood, finished reading a new letter from the blackmailer and had to race to the nearest water closet in his Grosvenor Square mansion to cast up his accounts.

By the time he was back at his desk re-reading the latest message from the craven bastard, his valet Bharat had arrived with a linen cloth dipped in cool water. He tied the cloth around his head and took a deep breath to keep the dizziness at bay.

In case you thought 2,000 pounds would keep me satisfied indefinitely, I decided to let you know I mean business. Your poor Mistress Number One, the headstrong Miss Godet, can be found in the attic of an abandoned house at Number Seven Maiden Lane. She"s always assumed she"s invincible. I thought I"d teach her a little lesson whilst also showing you I will not be put off.

Yours, Etc.

A friend with mutual interests

Black spots dancedbefore his eyes. When he looked toward Bharat, his efficient servant had already summoned Brighton - he could hear them conferring outside his door with a footman. Yes, he"d need a carriage immediately and every footman he had. He also had the presence of mind to dash off a message to have delivered to Captain El.

12 September,1826

Goodrum"s House of Pleasure

The minute Her Grace, Eleanor Whitcombe, opened the note from the earl, she commanded all the remaining guards, other servants, cooks, and pot boys from Goodrum"s to spread out and surround the building on Maiden Lane just in case the blackmailer was about to spring a trap on everyone who would come to help Adrienne.

She then called for her own horse to be saddled and brought around from the mews. She had to get to Obadiah before he heard the news from someone else. Carriages were nothing but a nuisance in the crowded streets of London. She had a hunch about the location of the neighborhood where he and the other men would be looking for Adrienne.

She raced out to the hitching posts at where one of her grooms was already leading her mare, Fancy, from the mews behind the club. She carried her secret weapons for dealing with her cosseted, spoiled mare. Fancy hated the crowds on London"s streets and often had to be cajoled with sugar cubes and bits of apple from the club kitchens. El easily mounted from the block next to the posts and was cantering down the street toward Covent Garden within minutes.

12 September,1826

Vicinity of Covent Garden

Obadiah had split up the group of guards from Goodrum"s into three, the better to cover the many warrens of tiny streets and alleys around Covent Garden. It seemed to him as if every argument he"d ever had with Adrienne, she"d ended up running off to her old friends around Covent Garden or Dickie Jones.

He and another guard had just finished walking north on Southhampton Street and were about to turn left on Henrietta when he saw a lone rider weaving her way through the crowd of conveyances heading toward the Covent Garden market. Only Captain El, erstwhile Duchess of Chelmsford, would appear on horseback, in the middle of the day, charging through Covent Garden with her bright auburn curls spilling down beneath her wide-brimmed hat...and riding astride in men"s trousers.

The minute she saw him, she waved her hand wildly. He ran to her side, certain she had news of Adrienne.

When he finally managed to push through the crowds of vegetable and flower sellers, she shouted down to him - "Number Seven Maiden Lane--."

That was all it took to send him pounding his boots across the cobblestones south in the direction of the address. The other guard raced behind him. Obadiah ran until he was so out of breath he had to slow down a bit and then sprinted forward again. Once on Maiden Lane, he had to make numerous stops to figure out the correct numbers on the many ramshackle houses. A number of the buildings were empty and Number Seven, when he found it, was one of them. When there was no answer to his urgent knock, he simply kicked in the door, not caring about any possible consequences.

Obadiah found the cobweb-filled staircase and checked the rooms on each floor, one by one until he came to the attic. He obliterated that door as well, and there she was - a pitiful sight in nothing but one of her thin silk dresses covering her shivering body. Her mouth was gagged tightly shut with a filthy rag. He gently untied her and put his own jacket over her trembling shoulders. She could barely speak but simply stared up at him, terror still filling her fathomless dark eyes. He didn"t speak but simply enclosed her in his strong arms and whispered calming words as if she were a small child until the shivering stopped.