Chapter 13

13

“ A re you certain you wish to do this, Lily?” the earl asked. “No matter what happens I will not allow them to prosecute you for a crime you did not commit. There are some advantages to being an earl, I assure you.” Seated in her upstairs library, the Earl of Framlingwood had been discussing Lily’s future with her most of the morning.

When a man made a decision about his life, people assumed he knew his own mind. When a woman did so, everyone felt they had a voice in what she was supposed to do. For the last two days she’d talked nearly every daylight hour with Mrs. Collins, with the other mistresses, even Captain El, when the Duchess of Chelmsford had come by and offered her help and advice.

How Lily wished they would simply respect her wishes and leave her be. Especially when she chose to dine in her chambers and spend her evenings pacing her parlor or weeping in her bed, which she despised. She had not seen Ari, though she knew he was still in residence. He’d begun to use the breakfast room as his meeting place. Men of every description were in and out at all hours. She’d been tempted to listen from the downstairs dining room or from one of the servants’ passageways, but she refused to appear interested in his machinations in any way. She had no idea what he was up to, nor did she care.

This morning, however, she’d been taken aback to discover his trunks and portmanteaus packed and neatly stacked in the foyer. Worse, she’d awakened to find the carved horse on her bedside table. He’d been in her bedchamber whilst she slept and left his most prized possession. She’d walked across the corridor at once to return the carving but discovered his door locked. Against her every instinct, the horse was now packed in one of the large carpet bags she intended to take in the carriage with her when she left London for all and good.

“Here,” the earl handed her a bank draft made out for a ridiculous sum.

“I cannot take this, my lord.”

“You can, and you will. Consider doing so obeying my last order to you as my mistress.” He handed her a large envelope. “This is the deed to this house. I have gifted it to you so you will always have a place to stay should you decide to return to London.”

“Derek.” She sighed and fought not to dissolve in tears once again. She’d wept more in the last two days than in her entire life, and she had no desire to weep in front of this man who’d always been so kind.

He waved her to silence. “I will brook no refusals, my dear.” He gazed at her for several moments. “If you run now, you will always be running. You have never struck me as a coward. And if you stand and fight now, you will not be fighting alone. I can protect you. Her Grace of Chelmsford has assured me her husband will stand with you. And Barker-Finch has been working tirelessly to prove your innocence. If you could but wait—”

“I’m tired of waiting for men to save me, my lord. Especially, men who lie to me to do so. I cannot wait for fear I…” She closed her mouth tight enough to draw her lips into s thin line.

“For fear you may begin to listen to him when he says he loves you?”

Lily blinked. He was smiling, the earl was smiling at her, and she realized he likely knew everything. The back of her neck grew warm. “Derek, I—”

“Please, Lily. I have been told I am oblivious to the feelings of others, but I’ve always known none of you ladies is in love with me.”

She opened her mouth to speak, but thought better of it.

“You are all fond of me and have always been more than generous and understanding of me. I’ll admit I’ve only recently come to understand that…with the help of a dear friend.”

Mrs. Collins. Lily would never say so out loud, but she and the other ladies had long noticed the friendship between him and their mysterious housekeeper.

“We men are not terribly intelligent creatures. We protect, even when women neither need nor want us to do so. As a result, we tend to bollox it up more often than not, but we don’t mean to and being in love tends to make us even less intelligent and more reliant on those terrible, primitive instincts at our core.”

“I needed him to be honest with me. He wasn’t.”

“And were you honest with him?”

“Of course I was.”

“Did you tell him you love him?”

“I-I…That is nonsense. I don’t love him.”

“Now who is lying?”

An urgent knock at the door saved her from having to answer him, though his scrutiny and her inability to look him in the eyes was answer enough. Slow Rutherford stepped into the room, disheveled and out of breath. “Best come downstairs, my lord. Perhaps Miss Venable should leave out the back. I can have the carriage made ready.”

“What the devil?” Framlingwood leapt to his feet and brushed past Lily. “Stay here.”

“Like hell,” she muttered as she followed close behind him. When the reached the balustrade looking over into the foyer a scene from her worst nightmares unfolded. Ari’s Bow Street friend, accompanied by two more Runners stood at the bottom of the stairs. Fanny Easterling, dressed in her finest and dripping with jewels stood behind them, a large handkerchief pressed to her face in a dramatic attempt to convey the tears of a stricken woman. Lily rolled her eyes.

“There she is,” Fanny cried. “There’s the whore who murdered my poor George and ran off with my jewels. Arrest her, Mister Colwyn. You’ll hang for this, Lillian Sanderson.”

Tall Rutherford and Young Rutherford stood at the bottom of the staircase. Slow Rutherford rushed down to join them. Mrs. Collins stood in the foyer, hands on hips.

“What is the meaning of this, Mister Colwyn?”

“Yes, Col,” the earl called down. “What are you about?”

“She is a murderess,” Fanny shrieked. “I will have justice for my late husband no matter whose mistress she is.”

“Really, Mrs. Easterling?” Ari strode into the foyer dressed to perfection and looking every inch the successful and commanding barrister. Lily cursed her traitorous heart that leapt in hope at his appearance.

“What evidence do you have that Miss Sanderson committed this crime?” He looked over his shoulder at Lily and winked. The great looby winked!

“Everyone knows she did. My George caught her robbing my jewelry box whilst I was on stage and she killed him to make her escape. She’s been running from the authorities in Edinburgh for ten years.”

“Can you describe the jewelry she is supposed to have taken?”

“Of course I can, but the authorities have a list. It was in all the papers.”

“It was indeed. And you had a personal dresser, did you not? He would be able to identify this jewelry, would he not?”

Fanny stilled and paled slightly. What was Ari doing? “I am certain he would, but I have not see the man for some ten years.”

“Davies?” Ari called.

“Yes, sir. Here, sir.” A thin, wiry, smartly dressed gentleman of some forty or fifty years came out of the downstairs drawing room. Geoffrey Davies! Lily had known him in her days in Edinburgh. He walked up to Fanny and looked her up and down. Ari handed him a section of news sheet. “A ruby and diamond necklace.” He pointed to the piece presently around Fanny’s neck. “A pair of ruby and diamond earrings.” He pointed to her ears. Lily could feel the earl shaking with silent laughter at her side. She bit her lip to keep from joining him.

“I had them remade,” Fanny cried. “These are not the same pieces.”

“I beg to differ, madam,” Davies pointed at the largest stone in the middle of the necklace. “Your necklace had a chip here where you threw it at your late husband during an argument.”

“There are other pieces as I recall,” Ari’s Bow Street friend said. “Are they in Miss Sanderson’s possession?”

“No, your nibs.” Dickie Jones came out of the drawing room holding a lacquered jewelry case. “Found these in her dressing room.” He pointed at Fanny and then turned to wave at Lily. She blew him a kiss.

“Do you have an explanation for this, Mrs. Easterling?” Mister Colwyn, now Lily remembered his name, asked.

“I…I…This urchin is in on it with her. He broke into my dressing room and placed those jewels there.”

“Oy, ye awd bitch. I’m no thief. Found these about the time Bow Street here arrested that seedy Frenchie ye’ve been paying ta shag you these ten years. The man pinched on you like a girl caught stealing her first apple, he did. You paid him to kill yer husband and ta have Miss Lily tapped for it. Ye’re a nasty piece of work, you are.” He turned to Mister Colwyn. “What’cha waitin’ for, Bow Street? It’s the gaol for you, Missus.” The boy ambled over to the foot of the stairs and sat down. Davies joined him.

“Col?” The earl called from his place next to Lily.

“I’ll do what I can, Framlingwood. Barker-Finch? You’ll bring your man down to Bow Street to make a statement? And bring this one too?” He indicated Dickie.

“I ain’t done nuffink,” Dickie stated indignantly.

“Oh, yes you have.” Lily ran down the stairs and threw her arms around the boy. She kissed his cheek, which he immediately wiped away.

“Here now,” Dickie complained. “Enough of that. Kiss Mister Barker-Finch. He’s the one who saved your neck, he did.”

Ari was speaking quietly to Mrs. Collins. Fanny Easterling was screaming in the street as Mister Colwyn and his men dragged her out and bundled her into a black carriage. Lily turned her attention to Davies.

“Thank you, Davies,” she said as she hugged him. “I am so happy to see you.”

“I am happy to see you as well, Miss Sanderson.” He nodded toward where Ari stood. “He sent for me the minute he knew who you were and that you were in trouble. He and I have been investigating Fanny Easterling for weeks. He’s always known you didn’t do it.”

She finally turned to gaze at Ari. As if he sensed her eyes on him, he turned toward her.

“Remember what I said about honesty,” the earl said. “A chance to be with someone who will do anything for love of you is rare, Lily dear.” He crossed the foyer and joined Mrs. Collins in conversation with the Rutherfords. Titania wandered into the foyer from the back of the house. Ari picked her up and held her against his chest.

Lily marched up to him and held out her hands. “My kitten, please.”

“I don’t think so,” Ari replied. “This kitten is the only thing between me and a slap or a punch or something from my luggage being tossed at my head.”

“Where did you find Davies?” she asked, as she took in the shadows under his eyes and the pallor of his face.

“Edinburgh. He’s been my valet for years. Framlingwood and his cronies kidnapped and sent him off to Bath when they pressed me into service as your tutor. I sent for him as soon as I realized Fanny Easterling might be behind these attacks on you. I hoped he might know something, and he did.”

“Ari, I…” Every word Shakespeare had written danced around in her head, but she could think of nothing to say. She pressed her palm to his chest and felt the steady beat of his heart.

“I was going to do anything to save you, Lily, because I love you. I should have told you the truth from the beginning. I was simply…”

“Being a man, according to a very wise friend of ours.” She glanced at the earl who smiled encouragingly and nodded as if in consent.

“Lily, I don’t care if you don’t love me. I love you enough for the both of us. But I do want to spend the rest of my life talking you into loving me. I am a barrister, after all. And—”

“You barrister types never know when to stop talking, do you?”

“Amen,” Dickie said, drawing everyone’s attention to him. “Get on wif it, your nibs. Before she changes her mind again. Women do, you know.” He rolled his eyes for good measure and Lily had to laugh.

“What the hell?” Ari handed her Titania. He went down on one knee. “If you punch me or refuse me, I won’t have nearly as far to fall from here.” He cleared his throat.

Tears spilled over Lily’s cheeks. She bent down to whisper to him. “You do realize you’re proposing to an earl’s mistress in the presence of said earl, don’t you?”

“Former mistress,” Framlingwood said loudly. “She gave me my congé this morning.”

“Makes it awright then, don’t it? Go on, then. We ain’t got all day.” Dickie’s sigh of disgust echoed in the foyer.

Lily began to giggle. Ari snorted. In a minute or two his face grew solemn, but his eyes shone with the sort of love she’d only ever dreamed of or seen onstage.

“Liliana Sanderson? Lily Venable? Lily, my love, will you make me the very happiest of men, and marry me, please?”

She took a deep breath. “Yes, I will, Aristotle Lycurgus Solon Barker-Finch. On one condition.”

“Anything, my love.” He took her hands in his and kissed each palm in turn.

“You don’t allow your mother to name our children.”

“Too bloody right there, Miss,” Dickie said with a groan. “Prinny’s pizzle, what a name.”

“The name of the man I love,” Lily murmured against Ari’s lips. “The name of the man I love.”