Page 28 of Lady Louisa and the Carriage Clock (The Rogue’s Alliance #3)

L ouisa didn’t open her eyes again until she was seated next to Leopold in her father’s carriage. She knew Eliza had been murdered, and the Ketterings were both likely deceased. As her brother carried her outside the house, she’d no desire to see the result of the events at Richmond House that evening.

“It’s all right, Louisa. We’re on our way to Carstairs.” Leopold had his arm around her.

“Lord and Lady Kettering?” she asked in a small voice.

“Are you sure you’re up to this right now?”

“Leopold,” she opened her eyes and stared at him in the gloom of the carriage.

Her brother sighed. “They’re both dead. He from a gunshot wound, his wife from what appears to be a broken neck.”

“Do Father and Mother know where I am?” she asked with a shudder.

He shook his head. “Lucy told me you were missing and I asked her not to say a word to anyone else.”

Lord Wycliffe was unharmed. She was sure he had already departed for Mayfair to look for the ledger Lord Kettering mentioned. When the viscount learned the men who killed his brother were probably dead, the fury on his face had broken Louisa’s heart. Lady Kettering had treated the murder and the men who were responsible as unremarkable, hardly worth notice.

The rocking of the coach was making her sleepy. A thought struck her. “I heard you give orders to those other men.”

“I’ve been working for the Home Office the last two years investigating the Rogue’s Alliance.”

“And you never said a word. Does Lord Wycliffe know?”

“I told Lord Harbury this evening, so I’m sure the viscount has been informed by now.”

“What are we going to tell Mother and Father?” she asked, yawning.

“Nothing. We will get you into the house unseen.”

She sat up straighter. “Our groom! The men with Louisa tied him up.”

“He will be fine. He also works for the Home Office.”

After a moment of silence she asked, “What happens now?”

Leopold took one of her hands and squeezed it. “Once you are home and settled, I will meet with Lord Wycliffe to discuss the ledger. The chaos at Richmond House will be sorted by the Home Office. Your part in all of this is over, Louisa."

Her brother’s tone brooked no disagreement, and she didn’t have the strength to argue. “You must ensure Edith knows we’re all safe.”

Her brother nodded. “I would think Lord Harbury is notifying his wife right now, but I will make sure.”

“Thank you, Leopold.” She resumed her place against his shoulder. “Do you really dislike Lord Wycliffe or was that merely theater?”

She felt him shrug. “It was partly an act. The viscount has always been a proud man.”

“Are you not the same?” she asked with a chuckle.

“You may be right. Rest now.”

She nodded off and awakened when the coach came to a halt in the mews.

“Can you walk?” Leopold asked as he helped her from the carriage.

“I think so.” She held on to her brother’s arm as he escorted her across the back garden, through the French doors, and into the drawing room.

Lucy was perched on the edge of a chair and rose to her feet upon seeing her mistress. “My lady! Are you quite all right?”

“Just tired, Lucy.”

The maid took her arm and drew her away from Leopold and out of the room. They were silent until they reached the privacy of Louisa’s bedchamber.

“Would you like a bath, my lady?”

She shook her head. “All I want right now is my bed.”

“Yes, my lady.”

Lucy helped her mistress change into a nightrail and insisted on staying by her side until she fell asleep.

Louisa remembered falling into Cecil’s arms. He’d held her so gently and she wished she’d never had to leave his embrace. It didn’t matter if he could never love her. She loved him and hoped he would vanquish the RA and find the peace he needed so desperately.

Despite racing thoughts of Lord Wycliffe and what had transpired in Richmond that night, she fell into a deep sleep.

* * * * *

C ecil wasn’t alone at White’s for long before Leopold joined him in the dining room.

“How is the beef this evening?” the other man asked as he took a chair facing Cecil.

“Excellent. I’m just not as hungry as I thought I was.” He pushed his dinner plate away and gestured to the ledger in the middle of the table. “That book came from Lord Kettering’s study. Before he died, he told me it lists Rogue’s Alliance members, and contains proof his wife was one of the founders of the RA.”

“His wife?” Leopold raised a brow.

Cecil proceeded to tell the other man of the events he’d witnessed in the mansion in Richmond.

When Cecil had finished his tale, Leopold picked up the ledger. “May I?”

“Please.”

Leopold opened the ledger and pulled a pencil and a small notebook from a pocket inside his coat.

Cecil sipped his port as he watched Leopold look over the first page of the ledger and make notes.

“The first entry is dated nearly ten years ago. It is an elementary cipher: The names are a first initial and surname, and I merely have to skip two letters ahead to find the correct letter of the name. The letter A reverts to the Letter C, and so forth. It isn't a very secure code.”

“My take would be that Lady Kettering was a little too sure of herself after getting away with so much for so long.”

Leopold nodded. “That is usually the downfall of spies and criminals.”

They sat silently for several minutes as Leopold pored over the ledger. There were only two other men in the dining room, most members being downstairs in the gaming rooms at this time of night.

A waiter came near and Cecil waved him off.

“I’m sorry. Did you want a drink?”

Leopold shook his head.

He had to ask. “How is Louisa?”

“She will be quite all right. Her maid is looking after her.” He didn’t look up.

“Does she know you work for the Home Office?”

Leopold looked up briefly. “I told her on the carriage ride back to Grosvenor Square.”

“And Henry Bones works with you?”

“He does.” Leopold paused. “Eliza was not adequately investigated by the Home Office. The agent in charge of that duty has been outed as an RA member. I looked into the rest of your staff myself several months ago.”

“Even Bones?” he asked, raising a brow.

Leopold nodded. “You can trust him.”

He waved the hovering waiter away again. “What are we going to do about this ledger? We can’t sit here all night.”

“I suppose you won’t let me leave here with it.”

Cecil shook his head. “No.”

Leopold closed the ledger and pushed it back across the table. “Well then. We can repair to the Home Office in my carriage, and I will spend all night deciphering every entry.”

“That sounds like an excellent idea.” He added, with a frown, “I’m sorry your sister was involved in this.”

“I’m sorry too. I didn’t know the history of the clock, or I would have let you win it.”

“I didn’t destroy it,” he replied.

“No?”

“Both clocks are in the Chinese puzzle cabinet in the drawing room at Carstairs.”

Leopold whistled. “Like most of London, I believed you’d burned the clocks.”

“I pretended to destroy them to protect Louisa,” he replied carefully.

“I want to blame you for her involvement in all of this, but I know how stubborn and headstrong my sister can be.”

Cecil chuckled, and it felt good. He needed a release from the fear he’d felt when he realized the RA had taken Louisa. “She is the most stubborn woman I’ve ever met.”

There was a lot of work to do before he could think about how he felt about Lady Louisa and come to terms with the fact that his brother had been just one of many people murdered by faceless, nameless RA thugs.

He rose to his feet. “Shall we go?”

* * * * *

L ouisa woke to a room full of daylight and a sleeping maid in the chair beside her bed.

“Lucy.”

“My lady! I’m so sorry that I fell asleep.” The young woman jumped to her feet.

She smiled softly. “Thank you for watching over me. Please have a tray sent upstairs and then get yourself to bed. One of the maids can assist me today.”

After Lucy departed, Louisa stretched and rose from the bed to look out of one of the windows. The sun was well and truly up. A glance at the clock on the fireplace mantel showed the time to be nine o'clock .

Her tray arrived, and she directed the maid to place it on the night table. She’d consumed most of the toast and chocolate when there was a knock at her bedchamber door, and Leopold looked in.

“Good morning.”

“You look awful,” she replied.

“I haven’t been to bed yet.” He yawned. “I wanted to check on you.”

“How is Lord Wycliffe?” she asked. She’d been worried about him and didn’t care to hide it from anyone.

“As tired as I am. We’ve briefed the Home Secretary and thanks to a ledger Lord Wycliffe and Lord Harbury recovered last night, today we start dismantling the RA member by member.”

It was over. At least her part in all of it was. She wanted to see Edith. And Charlotte. She knew she might not see Lord Wycliffe for a time. He’d be busy tracking down RA members with the help of the ledger.

“Leopold, I want to leave London.”

“I think that is an excellent course of action.”

“Will you help me convince Mother?”

He nodded. “We don’t have to tell our parents everything, but we can tell them enough.”

“Thank you. I’d like to be alone now, and you could do with some sleep.”

When Leopold was gone, Louisa curled up in her bed and pulled the covers over her head. She would go to Charlotte. Perhaps she could persuade Edith to go with her. Her season was over. There was only one man she wanted as her husband and she would accept a proposal from no one else.

Louisa dozed off and when another knock came at her door it was Edith who peeked into the bedchamber.

“Hello, sleepyhead.” Edith entered with a vase full of red roses.”

“They’re beautiful!” She sat up and threw off the bedclothes.

Edith grinned as she set the flowers down on Louisa’s writing desk. “There was a note included that I hid from your mother.” Pulling a card from her reticule, Edith handed it to Louisa.

Thank you for helping me find the truth.

C

“Did you read this?” she asked Edith, tears pooling in her eyes.

“Of course I did.” Edith hurried to sit next to her on the bed.

She wiped a tear from her cheek. “All he can write is thank you?”

“Red roses symbolize true love and passion,” Edith replied with a smile.

“He can’t- I mean he wrote thank you .” She took a breath before saying, “I’m leaving London. I want to see Charlotte.”

“Do you mind if I come too? The babe should be arriving soon and I think we should be there to help Charlotte when the time comes.”

“Soon?” Louisa smiled weakly, not wanting to think about anything but seeing her friend again. “She has a few more months yet.”

Edith sighed deeply, shaking her head. “It will take you at least that long to knit a decent pair of booties.”