Page 20 of Beneath the Devil’s Mask (The Hidden Hearts Collection #4)
“I have a plan. I have already pawned all my jewels at this little shop in Chancery Street.”
“What! Are you quite insane?” he asked. “That is in Bethnal Green, one of the worst slums in London.”
“I had no choice. I told you Lucien controls all my funds and there are no pawnshops in Mayfair. I had to sell off all my jewelry, even the locket with Norrie’s picture. I thought it wouldn’t matter because I expected to have her back with me soon and—”
Anne swallowed hard, steeling herself. She was not going to start blubbering again. Her plan for recovering Norrie had once seemed so clear, so possible, but as she tried to explain it to Mandell, she realized how ridiculous it sounded, how hopeless.
“So you bribed this maidservant and were going to find a way to singlehandedly storm the gates and steal away a sleeping child?” he asked with an incredulous lift of his brow.
”All the while holding an entire household at bay with a weapon which, with the way you had loaded it, would be incapable of killing anyone, except perhaps yourself. ”
“I didn’t want to kill anyone. I didn’t even want anyone to be hurt. I just want my daughter back.”
“Did it never occur to you that you might get hurt making such an attempt?”
“I don’t care,” Anne cried. “Oh, why should I expect you to comprehend? No one else does. I love my daughter. I would willingly die for her. Is that so hard to understand?”
“No. But you must take my word for this. Your daughter would far rather you live.”
This remark was as strange as the expression that passed across Mandell’s features, the lines of his face for once vulnerable. But as quickly as the look had come, Mandell shuttered it away again.
“Did it never occur to you, milady,” he asked, “that you needed someone to help you in such a desperate undertaking?”
“Who would help me? Lucien has the law on his side. I could not imagine any honorable gentleman of my acquaintance deigning to interfere.”
“You don’t need an honorable gentleman. You need me.”
“You!”
“Yes. I believe I could devise a better way of recovering your daughter than wandering through the streets at midnight with a half-loaded pistol.”
“Then tell me what it is!”
“Your pardon, Lady Fairhaven, but your skills at intrigue leave a little to be desired. You had best leave the details to me.”
Anne gaped at him. Either he had run mad or she had “You are really planning to help me?”
“Yes.” Mandell gave her a slightly bemused smile. “I rather believe that I am.”
“You astonish me, sir.”
“I astonish myself, madam.”
Wild unreasoning hope stirred to life inside of Anne, but she fought to quell it. She still regarded Mandell’s offer with suspicion. “And what would you ask in return for your services?”
Her question seemed to give him pause. “In return?” he repeated softly. “Oh, yes, of course, I could hardly be expected to act merely out of the goodness of my heart.” Whether he mocked her or himself Anne could not tell.
She wrung her hands together beneath the cloak, saying with a passionate desperation, “I would give anything, do anything to get my daughter back. I would sell my soul to the devil if I had to.”
“Careful, Sorrow. The devil just might take you up on that offer.”
The look he fired her way made his meaning clear. “Name your price.”
“We both know what I want from you.”
For one dizzying moment, it was like standing on the brink of some cliff, dark and fathomless. Anne stared deep into Mandell’s eyes and plunged.
“Done!” she said, holding out her hand. “You get Norrie back for me and I pledge that I will come to your bed.”
Mandell glanced down at her hand. “This strikes me as an odd sort of bargain to be sealed with nothing but a handshake.” His lips curved into a sultry smile which should have warned her.
He seized the ends of the cloak. He dragged her toward him, his mouth closing over hers, hot and hungry.
A faint protest escaped her but was lost in the fierce sensations his kiss aroused. Her lips parted before the fury of his embrace, his tongue delving into her mouth, sending a rush of heat through her veins that left her weak and shivering by the time he released her.
His eyes held hers in the darkness. “Now ‘tis truly done, our pact made. And I give you fair warning, Sorrow. I do not deal kindly with those who break faith with me.”
“I will not. Just get Norrie back for me.”
By way of acquiescence, he sketched a brief bow, rife with arrogance and a supreme confidence that filled Anne with more hope than she had known for a long time. She refused to dwell on the nature of the bargain she had just made, only thinking what it would be like to have Norrie back again.
As he resumed escorting her through the darkened street, he said, “Do me one favor, Sorrow, now that you have agreed to allow me to handle this matter for you. Curb your penchant for flitting about the streets alone after sunset. You may encounter far worse than me in the dark. A gentleman known as the Hook for example. There has been another murder tonight.”
“Yes, I heard.”
“The latest victim, I believe, is not unknown to you. Mr. Daniel Keeler.”
Anne frowned in confusion.
“The young gentleman you saved the other night from disgracing himself at the card table.”
“How dreadful.” For a moment, Anne was deeply shocked and grieved. But nothing could take precedence over her anxiety over her daughter, and what Mandell intended to do.
When they arrived back at Lily’s gate, Anne demanded, “My lord, you must give me some idea of what you are planning. How will you go about rescuing Norrie, if not by abduction? I have tried everything else. Lucien won’t listen to reason.”
“I believe I can persuade him to listen to me.” Mandell’s smile was not pleasant. He raised her hand to his mouth, his lips warm and lingering upon her bare flesh.
“But Mandell—”
“Keep safe behind locked doors, Sorrow.”
With this final command, he stalked off, vanishing into the darkness before Anne could question him further.
She suddenly realized she was still wearing his cloak, the garment seeming as rife with secrets and mystery as its owner.
She huddled deeper into the heavy folds, torn between hope and fear, a little awed by the dark force she had just unleashed upon the night.