Page 17

The man who had some virtue whilst he was struggling for a crown, often becomes a voluptuous tyrant when it graces his brow.

—Mary Wollstonecraft

Rafi waited until the next afternoon to finally call at my residence. To say the least, seeing him, tousled with that smirk firmly in place, allowed me to inhale the first full breath I’d taken in a day. Thankfully, my father had been busy in Parliament, so he hadn’t summoned me, nor had he made any decrees about my future at Welton, despite the fiasco.

Greer, Lalita, Nori, and I were on tenterhooks, but nothing new had been printed in the newssheets—or at least nothing incriminating the Lady Knights. Or perhaps the reporters were waiting to whet the appetites of those waiting for more. The discomfiting sensation in my stomach persisted, however, and I’d tossed and turned throughout night, imagining all sorts of unpleasant scenarios, including being sent away in disgrace as Ela had once been. Ruination was rarely survivable. Ela had done it, but the odds that all four of us would were next to none.

Once Rafi and I were ensconced in the library—with the doors open, of course, and my lady’s maid, Gemma, standing just outside, though she was quite unhappy to do so—I wasted no time in throwing myself into his arms. It was unseemly of me, but I did not care.

“Where were you?” I muttered into his chest, inhaling his scent with a deep sigh before pulling back to punch him in the arm.

He scrubbed a palm over his face. “I am sorry I didn’t send word. I saw the newssheets and I spent the entire day trying to figure out what my uncle was up to and what he’d reported to the Times. It makes no sense that he would go after a church or a school.”

Did Rafi not know? Glancing up at him, I let out a harsh breath. “Rafi, did your uncle ever ask you about going in with him on a venture to build a gaming hell?”

His eyes widened but he nodded slowly. “Yes, a while ago, but the financials did not make sense to me, so I told him it would be a money pit. How do you know about that?”

“The property he intends to buy is where the church is, and the orphanage,” I explained. “Where my school is. It’s all the same plot of land.” I chewed on my lip, choosing my words. “I know you asked me once, and I couldn’t tell you, but the money we…took was for the orphans, Rafi, to try to save the church from defaulting on their payments. And we were successful! But Lalita said it was going up for auction soon.” There was no judgment on his face, only concern. “I think your uncle is purposefully discrediting Miss Perkins because the school is complicating the sale.”

“That sounds like something he would do,” Rafi said dispassionately. “Welton has a decent reputation, so he has to destroy that first.”

“Not many know about our…capers or can tie them back to Welton. You, Blythe Danforth, and Sarah Peabody. I trust Sarah the least. Apparently, she has left London with her parents, which is highly suspicious.”

I pulled him over to the sofa and sat, gesturing for him to do the same. Though we were both in plain view of Gemma, I shimmied closer to him, wanting to take some comfort in his presence, but reluctant to be too bold. Our hands were nearly touching on the cushion.

“Are you well?” he asked softly. “I’m truly sorry I didn’t come sooner.”

“I was so worried your uncle had done something, locked you away or forbidden you from seeing me and catching my so-called hysteria.”

Thick eyebrows rose over surprised gray eyes. “Nothing could keep me from you, certainly not him.”

Heavens, that voice. Like smoke and sun-warmed honey. The edge of his smallest finger grazed mine, the point of contact blisteringly hot between us. Where were his gloves? I wondered dimly. Not that I was complaining, far from it. Tingles raced through my blood, firing through my chest and the pit of my stomach, and when he slid his finger alongside mine, the touch was deliberate and provocative in the extreme. Heat whirled through me like a cyclone as my lungs emptied of air, each second of prolonged touch fanning the flames.

“Rafi. What are you doing?” I mumbled, each sip of oxygen a herculean undertaking.

His voice was a rasp. “Nothing. I—”

He cut off with a gulp undulating the lean, bronzed column of his throat, but from the look in his eyes, it was obvious he had something to say. That look said that he’d been about to express something monumental.

His fingers were bolder now, sliding maddeningly against mine. It made me entirely too breathless, as if our furtive, forbidden touches might be discovered at any moment. As if my maid would see us and end the delicious torment, but our hands were well and truly hidden between us. Rafi tilted his chin, and I could feel the waft of his breath on my face. It would be so easy to turn my head and close the few short inches between us, my lady’s maid be damned. Then my lips could be on his.

My mouth dried with want, every nerve in my body screaming for me to give in, and I fought from squirming in my seat as my muscles tightened with a beating, overwhelming need for more. He twisted his wrist and the backs of his knuckles feathered over mine. It felt illicit, that surreptitious encounter of bare skin upon skin. Everything drilled down to that sublime connection—our heartbeats, our breaths, our mutual desire—and I was enflamed.

I cleared my throat, fighting for clarity in a fog of yearning. “If, for some reason, word gets out about our escapades, my father will be furious. Even if the Lady Knights were doing it for a good cause, the scandal will be interminable.” Feelings instantly cooled, I chewed on the inside of my cheek, worry swamping me. “The timing is strange, especially with your uncle’s involvement.”

As if sensing my apprehensions going haywire, his fingers moved to slide in between mine, clasping our hot palms together. My breath hitched at the boldness of the action, my gaze darting to the door where my maid was standing. She was focused on the hallway and not on us. My pulse streamed when Rafi squeezed.

He undid me more than any other boy I’d ever met, and while I trusted him, he was also a distraction. I had to stay focused on what was in the wings for the Lady Knights because it wasn’t just me at risk of being exposed…. If Sarah was behind the article, as I suspected, we would be in a lot of trouble. Forming the whole group had been my idea, so I was responsible.

I could not afford to make mistakes, not now, when our reputations were in danger of being sullied. With effort, I disentangled my fingers from Rafi’s, not meeting his eyes, though I could feel his surprise. But I couldn’t formulate a logical thought when I was around him, much less when he was touching me.

I stood and walked a few paces away to the bookshelf, thankfully feeling my temperature cool with each step. “What’s next?” I asked over my shoulder, proud that my voice was firm. “When you spoke to your uncle, did he mention the Lady Knights?” Iasked.

He shook his head. “Not that I heard, but he claimed to have seen letters from the parents of students who weren’t happy about the book club.”

“Which ones? Did he say?”

“No, but he could be lying. We both know in our world, a peer’s word is worth more than any actual proof.” Rafi leaned back and placed his arms along the top of the sofa, crossing one booted foot over the opposite knee. He looked like a pasha sitting there, indolent, arrogant, and so gorgeous that my brain gave an indelicate stutter. Why did I get up and walk away again?

Right. Yes, of course. The Lady Knights. Our predicament. Tarnished reputations. Possible incarceration. Expulsion from the echelons of high society. Utter and unequivocal ruination. The warmth in my veins slivered to ice.

“He will stop at nothing to get what he wants,” Rafi went on. “Even if it means ruining the livelihood of three pious women, eliminating a school, and displacing dozens of orphans.”

“How can he get away with this?” I mused. “Claiming it’s hysteria will only cause chaos among the ton. Miss Perkins is quite lucid, I assure you.”

Rafi leaned forward. “Unfortunately, gossip is a very easy way to sow discontent. Scream that young women are excitable, irrational, and uncontrolled, and every aristocratic male will be up in arms. It doesn’t help our cause that it’s one of the most commonly diagnosed disorders of our time.”

My heart tripped at the way he’d said our cause. “It’s ridiculous.”

His face was solemn. “I don’t disagree, but many doctors have used such a diagnosis to commit women to asylums.”

The breath rushed out of me as my entire body slumped in cold, horrendous realization. Oh my God, was that what Viscount Hollis intended? To incarcerate Miss Perkins in a mental asylum? I couldn’t even imagine the horror of such a thing!

We had to get to Welton.

But of course, we were much too late.

It was a complete witch hunt by the time Rafi had us driven to Welton in his carriage, only to learn that the Perkins sisters weren’t there. My brother’s coach rolled to a stop behind ours outside the school, and I exhaled a sigh of relief at the sight of him and Ela. I’d sent Brennan to find them, and I was grateful for their presence, even though I’d kept them at a distance lately because of what was going on between Rafi and me.

When one of the servants explained that the missus and her sisters had been taken to Justice Hall in the Old Bailey, I frowned, at a complete loss for words. The Old Bailey? Why on earth would three teachers be taken to a public courthouse that normally dealt with criminal cases like assault and murder? Did the viscount intend to commit all three Perkins sisters on false charges? It seemed preposterous, and yet, I’d seen for myself how the word of a man could be taken for law. Poor Ela’s reputation had been ruined just by virtue of a dishonest boy.

As far as I knew, one could not simply turn up to the courthouse and demand to be heard, but it would not surprise me if the viscount had contacts in the Old Bailey. It seemed rather extreme, but given what we knew of him and what Rafi had corroborated, Hollis was ruthless. He’d be out to get what he wanted…and would employ any means to do so, even if it meant destroying innocent women.

“Let’s go,” my brother said, sharing a dark look with Rafi. “This will become a spectacle, if your uncle has anything to do with it. Mark my words.” Keston glanced at my faithful Brennan, who had accompanied his driver, and beckoned him. “Take one of the horses here and fetch Their Graces the Duke and Duchess of Harbridge at once. My parents are at home and will come. Tell them the Marquess of Ridley requires their assistance posthaste at the Old Bailey and to summon the family barrister. Explain as best as you can.”

The suggestion did not sit well with me, considering my father’s chilly opinions of the situation, but we could not take on an enraged Viscount Hollis alone. I could only pray that our mother would be able to accompany our father—at least she was a voice of reason.

“Keston,” I began, staring at my brother, worried. “He’s not going to like this.” I swallowed. “The scandal of it, especially.”

He nodded. “I know, but he’s one of the most powerful peers in England, and he might be a harsh man, but he’s just. He will know what to do.”

“He hates Welton,” I insisted. “This is a bad idea.”

Keston shrugged. “It’s the only one we have. Unless your secret suitor has a better one?” He shot us a baleful glare. “Did you think I wouldn’t find out?”

Rafi sighed. “Mate.”

“Not now, Kes,” Ela said, rubbing his arm, for which I was grateful.

“Let’s get over to the courthouse,” I said, heading for Rafi’s carriage.

Utter pandemonium reigned in the street as we arrived at the Justice Hall at the Old Bailey, which sat northwest of Saint Paul’s Cathedral and was built beside the ominous brick walls of Newgate Prison. Now, there was a place I didn’t wish to ever see the inside of. Though the courthouse had been rebuilt long ago and walls were in place to keep the public out, that didn’t mean they could not get in. One could pay a fee to be a spectator in the gallery for cases.

I could already feel the stares flocking to my person as well as my brother’s, Rafi’s, and Ela’s as we swept through the halls. Recognition would be quick to follow, especially considering our well-tailored clothes. We were curiosities as well as potential targets of both thieves outside and journalists inside.

Once we were inside the courthouse, we exchanged heavy glances as the Perkins sisters appeared momentarily before disappearing with several grim-looking gentlemen, one of whom was Viscount Hollis. His hawkish face was wreathed in disgust and disdain, his eyes hard and merciless. He caught sight of his nephew standing beside us and his expression hardened.

“Rafi, you should go,” I told him softly. “Don’t worry about me. Keston is here.”

Instead of agreeing, he pressed closer to my side, his tall frame a solid comfort. “No. I’m not leaving you here to fend him off alone. Either of you.”

He’d included my brother at the end for show, but Keston was more than capable of looking after himself, and Ela was here, too.

“Who are those men?” I asked.

“The sheriff and John Atkins,” Keston answered.

I gasped. That was the name of the man I’d overheard! “Who is he? Atkins?”

“The Lord Mayor of London,” my brother replied.

Oh. That information did not bode well, considering his scheming with the viscount. I glanced at Rafi. “Does your uncle know him?”

“Unfortunately, yes. They knew each other as lads in Kent, and Atkins used to be a shipping merchant with whom my uncle had a very prosperous arrangement. He owned several shipyards on the Thames.”

My heart sank. Powerful men would stop at nothing to protect their interests, even at the expense of others. And powerful men allied together were even worse. If Viscount Hollis wanted to bring down Welton on such flimsy charges, he might succeed. And I still didn’t know if the Lady Knights would play a part in this debacle.

We stopped in a hallway to wait for my parents, not knowing what we were walking into and not wanting to expose ourselves without them. My anxiety deepened as the minutes went by. Would my father come? He was deeply committed to family, but he hadn’t liked Welton from the start, and while he was somewhat progressive in his views, he was still a stickler for propriety and reputation. And he loathed scandal with a passion. I feared that we were all about to become embroiled in one no matter how hard we tried to avoid it.

Voices drifted from a side door leading to the courtroom, and I could not help overhearing the current case that was being tried. From what I could gather, the case was about a young man who had been convicted of stealing. My eyes widened when I heard the evidence being presented, and then my stomach dropped. He was being tried for taking a bloody handkerchief ? I waited breathlessly for the verdict and felt ill when I heard it. The plaintiff was fourteen years old and sentenced to being transported for life.

“Dear God,” I whispered. “A handkerchief. Where is he being transported to?”

“Australia most likely,” Rafi said grimly.

That was on the other side of the world. Oceans away! Would that happen to me? To Greer, Nori, and Lalita if our crimes under the Lady Knights were discovered? Would we be sentenced to transportation? Or worse ? Our crimes were much worse than lifting a piece of fabric—we’d stolen hundreds of pounds. It would not matter that our victims had been our family and friends. They would not care that we had delivered all the money to the destitute and starving, and being the daughters of gentry and the peerage would not save us in the eyes of the law.

Panic bubbled up into my throat, and I felt myself breaking out into a sweat.

The next case began, and the sick feeling in my belly only grew. Before the court stood a woman accused of breaking and entering into a private residence and stealing ten rings and five brooches. It was much too close to what we had stolen—albeit we didn’t enter someone’s home—but still, the crime was near enough. My breath shortened to shallow pants as I strained to listen to the woman’s defense. She claimed someone had dropped the items, and she’d only retrieved them.

Laughter followed, and I waited with bated breath. Would they be lenient because of her sex? Foreboding drummed through my bones. Transportation would be the least of her punishment unless she was found not guilty. Hope was a strange thing when fear was so pervasive that you could barely think beyond it. And still…I hoped for her sake. She was only nineteen, not much older than the boy who had gone before.

My knees buckled at the sentence—death.

“Rafi,” I bleated in a suffocated whisper. I did not care who was watching—my brother, his fiancée, no one—I grasped his hand, leaned into him, and buried my face into his chest.

“That won’t happen,” he whispered. Scandal and ruination were the least of my concerns as reality sank in at the cost of my actions. The truth of the Lady Knights could still come out, and if proven guilty, we could be sentenced to die.

“What’s the matter with her?” I heard my brother ask.

“The verdicts we overheard just then, I suspect,” Rafi answered.

“The law is harsh,” Keston said.

I clenched my teeth and straightened, my eyes burning with unshed tears. “She stole, but did any of the men in there stop to ask what might have driven her to such a desperate thing? She is just a girl, for God’s sake, with her whole life ahead of her.”

Keston’s eyes narrowed with interest. “You’re rather distraught over the fate of a stranger.”

“Have you no compassion, Brother?” I asked in a whisper. The Lady Knights had stolen money from him, too. Would his opinion change if he suspected that I was involved? Or if he knew of the intention behind the theft? “The boy before is a child who stole a piece of fabric. That girl is between us in age.”

“I suppose they could have been more lenient.” He observed me, gaze falling to the hand that remained interlocked with Rafi’s, which I instantly released, my cheeks burning.

Ela’s stare snapped to mine, and I pinned my lips between my teeth. She wouldn’t even have to ask. My feelings were written all over me, and any woman in love would recognize the affliction in another. The sudden realization made my breath stutter and goose bumps break out over my arms. Dear God…was I in love with Rafi?

No, no.

This was simply the usual minor infatuation that had simmered constantly for weeks. Wasn’t it? When had I started thinking of Rafi as my rock rather than a pretty face to drool over? When had contentment at the pleasure of his company overcome the feelings of impossible yearning I’d always associated with him? Of course, like any hot-blooded girl, I’d fantasized about a future with him, but now that we’d shared our secrets, our hopes, and our dreams, a future felt…tangible. It was no longer merely a semi-besotted fantasy.

Rafi wasn’t perfect, but neither was I.

Keston lowered his voice, eyebrows slashing together in sudden brutal understanding. “Exactly how serious is this courtship?”

“We—” Rafi began, but was interrupted by the arrival of my parents.

Thank God. I did not want to have to explain that I was smitten with his best friend, the same man he’d once called a libertine. Neither Ela nor Keston was na?ve, but I had more pressing things to worry about. Namely the thunderous expression on the Duke of Harbridge’s face as he closed the distance between us.

“What the devil is going on here?”