Page 31 of Lady Isla and the Lord of Rogue (Merry Spinsters, Charming Rogues #6)

Chapter Twenty-One

Isla’s first impulse was to run to Algie, to demand the truth behind her suspicions. But something made her pause. No. She ought to speak to Teddy first. If anyone could explain the tangle of secrets, it was him. The question was…where to find him?

When she arrived home, the butler met her with a puzzled look and an enormous bouquet of blush pink roses and lily of the valley, tied with a navy ribbon.

“A boy delivered it, miss,” he said. “Soot-streaked and breathless. Said he came from somewhere near Seven Dials, and that the gentleman told him not to tarry.”

Isla’s heart gave a small flutter.

Tucked between the flowers was a folded note in Teddy’s familiar hand:

My dearest, Alas, I am beset by obligations and cannot steal away, but let these roses stand in my place for now. Two more days, and I shall be entirely yours (provided you do not change your mind).

Your devoted (and impatient) servant,

T.

She stared at the words. Their wedding. In two days! She had entirely forgotten.

And yet—he had not.

Seven Dials. That was where the warehouse was.

If Teddy was anywhere in London, it was likely he was there, or at the gambling club.

She made her decision.

She would go to the warehouse. And this time, she would not leave with unanswered questions. She would confront him and get to the truth.

She rang the bell. “Tell Meggie to fetch her cloak. We are going out.”

She finally found the warehouse after losing her way twice and doubling back through a warren of alleys and crooked streets. The air smelled of smoke, rotting fruit, and damp stone.

Meggie, who was usually at ease in the rough parts of town, glanced about nervously and pressed close to Isla. “I think we’re being followed,” she whispered to Isla.

Isla looked over her shoulder but found nothing unusual in the busy street. “Nonsense. Who should follow us, and why? ”

“I don’t know, m’lady, but it’s a strange feeling I have.”

Isla gripped her umbrella tightly. “Let them follow us. We’re not doing anything wrong.”

“This bit’s worse than where we was before,” she muttered. “If we get out o’here with all our teeth, it’ll be a miracle.”

“Never fear,” Isla said, forcing a brightness she didn’t feel. She raised her umbrella like a sword. “For I have my trusty weapon! My brother gave me a new one with a sharper tip.”

Meggie snorted. “Aye, and we’ve all seen what that’s worth. Don’t go stabbin’ at shadows, now.”

They stopped in front of the door with green peeling paint and the red wolf sign painted upon it. Isla swallowed nervously. Then she pushed against the door, which creaked open under her touch.

The courtyard in plain daylight looked even more bleak than it had at night.

As before, there was not a soul to be seen.

She found that strange. Why were there no people guarding the place?

They crossed through the courtyard and stopped before the door on the other side.

Isla told Meggie to wait there. “If I am not back in fifteen minutes, run and fetch my brother.”

The room that she had witnessed through the window, where she had seen Teddy—or rather, Lucian—in his element, was entirely bare. The chair and the table she had seen were gone.

The room was half in shadows.

Disappointed, her eyes swept through the room.

There were not even so much as crates or barrels, nothing at all but the creaking wooden floor.

Both sides of the room had windows, one facing the courtyard, where she had stood, and the other what she supposed must be another courtyard or street.

She stepped further into the room to take a look, then paused.

There, in the shadows at the farthest end of the room, stood someone.

Her heart began to gallop.

There, with his back towards her, looking out of the window, was?—

“Teddy,” she gasped.

He turned around slowly.

“That—that—I—that is,” she cleared her throat. “What are you doing here?” she blurted out, aware that it was an entirely nonsensical thing to say.

He regarded her, unsmiling. “You have a terrible sense of timing, my love.”

She looked into his eyes, and they were as cold as a stranger’s.

Isla gaped.

“Why the surprised look? I knew, of course, that eventually you’d put two and two together. I gather you already have, for you’re far too intelligent not to. Though I imagine you talked yourself out of what your brain was telling you. Since you said nothing. Until now.”

“Teddy,” Isla repeated, unable to form any other word.

A door from the other end of the room opened, and armed men entered. They were a ragged group and looking very dangerous.

“Everything is ready, my lord. All the men are assembled,” said one with a red bandanna over his head. His sleeves were rolled up and Isla saw the tattoo of a skull with two swords behind it. A pirate. The Mudlark Skulls. His eyes fell on Isla and stopped in his tracks. “But what is this?”

“A minor inconvenience,” Lucian Night replied pleasantly. “You need not concern yourself with her.”

Isla gasped.

Lucian turned to her, a flicker of regret in his eyes.

“As I said, the timing is most unfortunate. A little later would have been preferable. We are in the middle of finalising a deal, you see. The Blood Wolves and the Mudlark Skulls are to be united under my leadership.” He smiled in such a cold, calculating way that an icy shiver ran down her back.

“Finally.” He clasped his hands behind his back and strolled towards her.

“I have achieved my goals, you see. Sole dominion over the underworld. Control over the Skulls. And my nemesis, the Home Secretary, dancing to my tune.”

“I don’t understand.” Her voice shook. “I thought you worked with Algie, that you were one of his agents…”

He smiled. “Yes, that is what I wanted everyone to believe. It worked beautifully. But why give him such power when I can have it all?” He extended a hand.

“With his sister in my grasp, he is but a marionette in my hands, a puppet I can crush at will. Alas, as I have said before, the timing of your discovery is deplorable. After the wedding would have been preferable,” he mused. “At the very latest.”

“Wedding?” She stared at him as if he’d gone mad.

“Well, yes. We are to marry, are we not?”

“You can’t possibly believe I’ll go through with it.”

“Why not?” He smiled slowly. “I can’t think of any obstacle in the way of our loving union, can you?”

“You’re mad!” She gripped her umbrella. A man with a flintlock lunged forward—only to stop when Lucian raised a hand.

“Attention, all. She is mine. Anyone who touches her dies.”

The men stepped back.

Somehow, that didn’t comfort her in the least. Instead, anger surged through her.

She marched toward the door, where a heavy-set man blocked her path.

“Where are you going?” Lucian asked. “We haven’t finished our conversation.”

“I have. And I am going home to Algie.” She whirled around and glared at him. “He’ll have you, and this entire lot, arrested. You’ll have to kill me to keep quiet.”

“Will I?” He inspected his nails. “I have more subtle methods.”

She froze. “What do you mean?”

He made a slight gesture, and one man scuttled forward with a chair.

“Please. Have a seat. Bring some tea too,” he said.

The man brought a small table, and sure enough, began pouring piping hot tea from a teapot.

Isla pressed her hands to her hips to keep them from shaking. He was mad, completely mad, if he thought she’d sit and drink tea with him as if nothing at all were amiss.

“Sit,” he said again, and this time his voice was sharp, so sharp that she dropped into the chair without thinking, startled by the command.

“There. That’s better.” He poured her a cup and handed it to her. “Here. Drink. You’re paler than a corpse. I don’t want you toppling over.”

He held the cup out to her.

“It’s not poisoned,” he added impatiently, then poured himself a cup and took an exaggerated sip, as if to prove his point.

She picked up the cup and took a cautious sip. The warmth spread through her limbs, loosening her joints and stirring her frozen thoughts. Her stunned mind functioned again.

Lucian watched with approval.

“There. Better, is it not? Now, let us continue our conversation. There are two matters to address. First, the wedding. Then, Algie.”

He ticked off both points on his fingers.

“They are irrevocably related, of course. First, the wedding. We will proceed as planned.”

“I’m the ultimate prize, of course,” Isla said, staring hard into his eyes. “The sister of the Home Secretary. The ultimate coup.”

She gave a harsh laugh.

He lifted a hand in acknowledgement. “I see we understand each other perfectly.”

“Though how na?ve do you think I am? That I would not tell him your secret? He will realise you have double-crossed him in no time.”

“Of course you would tell him everything, and of course he will realise it all. But you are na?ve in thinking your brother didn’t know about it all along.”

Lucian took another sip of tea as Isla’s world came crashing down.

“What do you mean?” she whispered. She set down her cup with a shaking hand.

“The entire thing was your brother’s idea, of course.” He gave a lazy shrug.

An icy chill spread through her chest.

“You lie.”

“My dear Isla, I lie about many things, but not this. Your brother came to me, believe it or not, not to arrest me but to seek my help in rooting out the Rivergang Pirates, otherwise known as the Mudlark Skulls. Nasty lot. Now, I have my fingers in many pies, but this pie deals in a business even I find distasteful. Human trafficking.” He pulled a face.

“He begged me. The great and almighty Lord Algernon Wynthorpe. I was as astonished as you are now.”

Lucian chuckled.

“You can imagine how much I relished the moment. I refused at first. Hold out my hand in peace to my arch nemesis? Never. But then, you see, he made me an offer. A delectable, irresistible offer.”