Page 19 of The Duke’s Lance (The Duke’s Guard #12)

F laherty stalked into the taproom and demanded, “Where in the bloody hell is O’Malley?”

Hennessey didn’t move from his spot guarding the door to the private dining room where the Hinkle sisters waited. “Miss Langley accompanied him to speak with His Grace’s coachman. Something to do with her missing bag.”

“She didn’t have one with her when we found her. Has anyone searched the carriage to see if it was still on board?”

“Aye, it wasn’t there.” Hennessey smiled. “Here’s O’Malley and Miss Helen now.”

“What kept ye?” Flaherty demanded.

“A private matter,” O’Malley replied. “Ye’ll be pleased to know that the coachman’s eyes were clear and his mind not muddled just now when we questioned him about what happened after he delivered Helen to the dowager’s estate. He advised that when he came to, the lass’s bag was missing.”

Flaherty’s eyes narrowed as he studied O’Malley’s face, then looked away to do the same with the lass.

“Leave off, Flaherty. Private means I’ll not be disclosing it to ye.”

Flaherty smirked. “Care to place a wager on that?”

O’Malley snorted. “Ye’d be losing if I did. We have a schedule to keep, and—” His words were drowned out by the unladylike growl from the lass’s stomach and the adorable look of embarrassment on her flushed face.

Hand to her belly, she said, “Do forgive me. I did not have an appetite last night.”

“Well now, it seems as if it returned with a vengeance, lass. Ye’d best be feeding her, O’Malley,” Flaherty said.

O’Malley’s urge to knock his cousin off his feet was strong, but Helen’s belly growled again. “This way, lass.”

Hennessey stepped aside and waited for O’Malley and Helen to enter the room. At the inquisitive look on O’Malley’s face, Flaherty grumbled, “The rest of us have already eaten…while ye were having a private discussion.”

Instead of responding to his cousin’s taunt, O’Malley closed the door in his face.

Three-quarters of an hour later, they departed from the inn with the promise to return in a few days to collect the coachman. Their plan was to ride without changing horses. The hostler had agreed that the team would handle the extra push without a problem.

Flaherty led their party. The constable and two of his men, who formed a circle around the prisoners, were directly behind him. Next in line was O’Malley, who had insisted on driving the coach, his rifle within reach on the seat beside him. Hennessey and Jackson followed the duke’s carriage.

Pleased that the road ahead held no obstacles, O’Malley kept an eye on the team of horses pulling the coach. Scanning both sides of the road ahead of them, he was aware that until they arrived at their destination, the lass and the sisters were not completely safe. Thankfully, the uneasy feeling he and the others had experienced earlier that morning must have kept trouble at bay.

A short while later, Flaherty hailed Thomas O’Malley as he led their caravan toward the stables.

Thomas grinned at his brother. “I knew it! Ye’ve finally found yer calling driving His Grace’s carriage.”

“Bugger yerself.” O’Malley set the brake and jumped down from his perch.

“Who else besides the lass did ye bring?”

“Miss Langley’s chaperones, the Hinkle sisters.” O’Malley opened the door to the coach to help the ladies disembark. Hand extended, he held tight to Josina as she steadied herself and stepped down from the carriage. “Miss Josina, allow me to introduce me brother, Thomas.”

He inclined his head. “Pleasure to meet ye, Miss Josina.”

She moved out of the way, waiting while O’Malley helped her sister from the coach. “Miss Jeanette, me brother, Thomas.”

“They’re twins, like us,” his brother remarked.

“That they are.” O’Malley turned as Helen disembarked. “Careful now, yer balance is still a bit off.” When she was standing beside him, he grinned, unable to contain his joy. “Helen-lass, meet me brother, Thomas. Thomas, meet the other half of me heart.”

The Hinkle sisters sighed, and the lass gazed up at him with an expression of profound love. His brother inclined his head. “Well now, I can relax and know that me twin has found what I have with me wife Caro.” He nodded to the constable. “Thank ye for yer assistance with the prisoners.”

“Happy to be of assistance,” the constable replied.

“Hennessey and Jackson were sent to act as additional guards, as we’ll be keeping to the plan of escorting the prisoners to His Grace,” O’Malley added.

His brother shook his head. “At first it seemed unnecessary for ye to come here first, then head to Wyndmere Hall.” He smiled at the ladies and said, “With the bevy of beauties ye’ve delivered, I understand the need. Welcome to Summerfield Chase, ladies. I’ll let me brother escort ye inside. Her ladyship has rooms waiting for ye.”

“Once ye have the prisoners secured, we can meet and discuss our plans.” O’Malley looked at Hennessey, Jackson, and the constable. “Thank ye for yer aid in me protection detail, men. I’ll join ye as soon as I deliver the ladies into the care of his lordship’s housekeeper, Mrs. Chauncey.”

He held out his arm to Helen, who slipped her arm through his. “Thank you, Eamon. I know Miss Josina and Miss Jeanette are as relieved as I am to have arrived.”

The butler was waiting alongside Mrs. Chauncey to greet the women. “Welcome back, O’Malley.” He bowed to the ladies. “I’m Timmons, his lordship’s butler, and this is Mrs. Chauncey, the housekeeper.”

“’Tis nice to see ye again,” O’Malley replied. “Timmons, Mrs. Chauncey, may I introduce the Hinkle sisters, Miss Josina and Miss Jeanette, chaperones to me intended.”

Timmons dipped his head. “It is a pleasure to meet you ladies.”

“Welcome, ladies,” the housekeeper echoed.

O’Malley eased the lass closer to his side. “And this is me intended, Miss Helen Langley. Lass, meet Timmons and Mrs. Chauncey.”

“Thank you for welcoming us,” she added.

Timmons said, “If you’ll follow Mrs. Chauncey, she’ll show you to your rooms.”

O’Malley held on to Helen’s hand while the Hinkles followed in Mrs. Chauncey’s wake down the hallway toward the kitchen, where he detected the scent of fresh-baked scones. “I’ll be leaving ye, lass.”

“Alone?”

“Nay. Ye’ll be with the Hinkle sisters, and ye’ve met the housekeeper and butler. No doubt ye’ll be meeting me brother’s wife, and Garahan’s as well.”

She clung to his arm. “But what if I meet the baron or baroness and they openly disapprove of my being here?”

“Lass.” He tipped up her chin with a knuckle. “Do ye trust me?”

“You know I do, but—”

“I’d be stopping at the word ‘do.’”

Mrs. Chauncey turned and looked over her shoulder. “Miss Langley, forgive me. I thought you were walking with us. Her ladyship has ordered a hot bath drawn for each one of you. When Mrs. Garahan and Mrs. O’Malley arrive, we’ll bring tea up to her ladyship’s upstairs sitting room.”

He heard the lass sigh, and her relief fueled his. “Go on, now.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead and gave her a tiny push to get her feet moving.

Damned if the lass didn’t square her slender shoulders, lift her chin, and slant a smile at him. He could not resist sending her off with just a bit more.

“Lass?”

She spun around and wobbled, but steadied herself. “Yes?”

“Remember that I love ye.”

She rushed back to his arms, lifted to her toes, and kissed his cheek. “I love you too, Eamon. Thank you.”

When he looked up, he saw three faces wreathed in smiles. He’d done the right thing escorting the lass here, instead of staying a few nights more at the inn until the coachman was well enough to drive her to Wyndmere Hall. “Enjoy a good, long soak, but don’t be getting yer wrist wet, or bumping it on the edge of the tub.” He watched in fascination as she blushed. “Ask Mrs. Green to save a scone or two for meself and the others. We’d be grateful.”

She whirled around too fast, and he held his breath as he stepped forward to catch her when she fell. But the lass surprised him, catching herself in time, before rushing toward the ladies waiting for her.

When they disappeared into the confines of the kitchen, he rasped, “Thank ye, God, for sending the lass me way, and thank ye for protecting her until I was able to rescue her.” He paused, frowned, and added, “Though I’m not certain what yer reasoning was when she was abducted again, I’ll be thanking ye anyway, for allowing me to find and rescue her a second time.” He had his hand on the back doorknob when he paused again. “I forgot to say amen. Amen!”

O’Malley stepped outside, saw movement out of the corner of his eye, and turned a heartbeat too late to deflect the plank of wood aimed at his head. He raised his guard and felt the blow to the bone in his forearm.

Twin gasps of horror had him glancing down. He should have known. “Why, ye little heathens!” He gave chase, but the twin scamps—wards of Baron and Baroness Summerfield—were much lower to the ground and faster than him. “Come back here!” O’Malley ignored the laughter off to the left as he closed the distance between himself and the little boys. He caught one, and then the other. With a grip on the back of the coats, he lifted them off their feet until they were at eye level.

Their faces never showed an ounce of fear, and he wondered why in the hell they weren’t afraid. He’d caught them in the act, fair and square, and held them a few feet off the ground. “Fearless little gobshites , aren’t ye?”

Their laughter had O’Malley shaking his head and lowering them to the ground. He placed his hands on his hips and asked, “Well now, Percy and Phineas, what have ye been up to since last I was here?”

They looked over their shoulders and waved at Garahan—who was cheering them on.

“So, me cousins are in on yer well-planned attack?”

“Garahan, Flaherty, and your brother have been teaching us,” Percy told him.

Phineas nodded. “And since we got a blow in before you did, we get to have Mrs. Green’s frosted teacakes twice today!”

The little boys reminded O’Malley of him, his brothers, and his cousins, and their rough-and-tumble play growing up. “Well now, I’ll have to agree with ye, lad. Ye did get the jump on me.”

Percy frowned. “How did you know we were there? We hid real good.”

Phineas’s face mirrored his brother’s. “You shouldn’t have seen us.”

O’Malley ignored the ache in his forearm and leaned close to answer him, “I’ve invisible eyes in the sides of me head, and the back of me head as well. Ma told me when I was but two and ten that it would save me life one day. Faith, if she wasn’t right about that. It saved me from an aching head this day!”

Garahan was the first to approach them. He lifted Percy and Percival high over his head while they let out the O’Malley battle cry. “Well done, lads! Prudence will be so proud of ye.”

As Garahan set them back on their feet, Phineas asked, “Is Cousin Pru well enough to walk to the swamp with us later and collect samples?”

O’Malley’s gaze swung to his cousin. “What’s wrong with yer wife?”

Garahan’s grin relieved the worry gripping O’Malley’s heart. “She’s expecting.”

Percy rolled his eyes at his brother. “Why can’t they just say she’s got a babe in her belly and Garahan put it there?”

O’Malley roared with laughter. “God, if ye aren’t just as smart-arsed as Garahan!”

Garahan wasn’t laughing. “We’ve talked of this before, lads. ’Tisn’t enough to hear me—ye have to listen to me when I tell ye that ’tisn’t something ye speak of when others are around to hear ye. Yer cousin would be mortified if she heard what ye said.”

“But ye told us that’s how the babe got there when we asked,” Phineas reminded him.

Percy made a face. “We told you how the baron just got this funny look on his face when we asked him.”

“Right before he sighed and told us to ask you,” Phineas added.

While O’Malley thought the lads’ response was brilliant, and correct, it would not be something to speak of in front of a lady—especially the one carrying the babe, crying one moment, gushing with happiness the next. He’d witnessed the duchess, and then his cousin Patrick’s wife, showing a frightening range of emotions, and wondered how long the poor women—and their husbands—would be plagued with the upheaval. Nine months would be a long time to have to put up with volatile emotions.

He cleared his throat. “Now then, lads, are ye after making yer cousin cry?” The horrified expressions on the twins’ faces were what he’d hoped to see. “Prudence cannot help that she’s happy one minute and sad the next. From what I’ve been told, ’tis the babe’s doing and out of the mother-to-be’s control.”

“Aye,” Garahan agreed. “Don’t ye remember how Prudence cried when ye brought her the pair of purple and white spotted rocks to add to her collection?”

Percy nodded. “We thought she’d be happy.”

Garahan shrugged. “She was.”

“But she cried,” Phineas reminded him.

“Aye,” O’Malley agreed. “Remember, she cannot help it.”

“That’s right, lads, and ye know she still loves ye to pieces,” Garahan added.

A dark expression settled on Percy’s face. “That’s what she has always told us.”

Phineas’s face held the same dark look, and O’Malley knew it had to do with their father—mayhap their mother—striking Lady Phoebe, Baroness Summerfield, on the back of the head. The blow had rendered her unconscious, nearly killing the duke’s sister…and the babe she carried. He’d ask Garahan later if the boys parents’ were still waiting to stand trial.

“I’m wondering if the two of ye would stand with me cousins and brother later tonight when the vicar arrives to marry me and the lass.”

Percy wrinkled his nose. “Why do you and Garahan call ladies ‘lasses’?”

“Flaherty and your brother do it, too,” Phineas added.

O’Malley grinned. “Well now, if ye’re as privileged as me brother and me cousins to have been born on the Emerald Isle—home of the Tuatha De Danann and other faery folk—ye’d understand.”

“Garahan’s told us about the gentry—the little people.”

“Ah, ’tis well he should,” O’Malley replied. “Always watch out for wisps and swirls of wind—’tis themselves walking about invisible during the daylight.”

The lads nodded in unison, and Phineas said, “We’re not to toss the buckets of swamp water we bring home with our finds—tadpoles, frogs, fish, and such—without looking around us and warning that we’re going to be dumping the water in the herb garden.”

“The herbs like swamp water best,” Percy added.

“Garahan’s been teaching ye well, and I know ye’ve been minding yer cousin. Just remember to have a care for her reputation and not slur it by speaking of the babe she’s carrying.”

Garahan’s face grew solemn. “’Tis up to us men to protect the reputations of the women we love—and the ones we’ve sworn to guard with our lives.”

“Don’t be forgetting now,” O’Malley said.

“We won’t, we promise,” Percy said.

Phineas looked from Garahan to O’Malley and back. “Can we have frosted teacakes three times today?”

O’Malley’s heart lightened at the innocence of the lads—and their love of sweets. Thank God they weren’t old enough to know the truth behind their parents’ motive for striking out at the baroness—or their ill treatment of their niece Prudence before she was locked in one of the attic rooms. They’d all but sold Prudence—with the aid of her mother—to a member of the ton who accepted coin to abduct her…and a bonus amount to violate her. There were some truths he hoped neither Garahan nor Prudence would ever tell the lads.

Flaherty made his way over to join them, reminding O’Malley, “The baron wants to speak to the constable before he questions the prisoners. You’ll want to be there.”

“Aye. Thank ye for testing me reflexes, lads. It appears I need more practice.”

“We had a good night’s sleep,” Phineas said.

“Garahan told us we’d have a better chance of a surprise attack if we did,” Percy added.

O’Malley chuckled. “I don’t say it often, lads, but Garahan’s right.”

“Someone make note of this day and write it down,” Garahan said.

O’Malley shoved him out of the way with his shoulder. “Bugger off!”

“We aren’t supposed to say that,” Phineas said.

“Make sure that ye don’t.”

“But you just did,” Percy said.

“I’m not a lad anymore, and can say whatever I want,” O’Malley told them.

“As long as it is not within hearing distance of my wife, or any of the other women under my roof.”

O’Malley looked over his shoulder. “Yer lordship. We didn’t see ye there.”

“Do I need to remind you to watch what you say in front of these two fine, but impressionable lads? Phoebe and I have taken them under our wing and protection.”

“Ye do not, and I beg yer pardon.”

He saw the baron’s lips twitch a moment before he cleared his throat to say, “Vicar Chessy is expected after the evening meal. I hope that is acceptable to you and Miss Langley.”

O’Malley’s heart soared. “More than, yer lordship. Thank ye.”

“Garahan, see that the footmen trained to step in as guards are at their posts. O’Malley, Flaherty, and I are going to speak with the constable, and then question the men. I’m depending on you and Thomas to see to the perimeter. You can resume the patrols to the village and back after we finish questioning the prisoners.”

“Aye, yer lordship,” Garahan replied. “Run along, lads, and see if ye can convince Prudence to put her feet up while ye tell her the tale of how ye caught O’Malley here unaware.”

The baron’s expression was telling. He was pleased for the lads. It warmed O’Malley’s heart that the boys seemed to have become a part of the Summerfields’ home. Wanting to ensure they knew he was not too proud to admit he’d been bested by two lads, he said, “Don’t be forgetting to tell her ye remembered the O’Malley battle cry. Brought tears to me eyes thinking of me da teaching me brothers and me the cry when we were just about yer age. He’d be almost as proud of ye as I am.”

Percy grinned. “Thanks, O’Malley!”

“We won’t forget to tell Prudence,” Phineas promised.

“I’ll introduce ye to me intended when I return. Ye’ll like Miss Helen—she has faery eyes.”

The boys were entranced by the thought. “Faery eyes?” Percy asked.

“With her black-as-night hair and violet eyes, I’m thinking she has the blood of the fae running in her veins.”

“We can’t wait to meet her. Maybe we’ll share one of our teacakes with her. The fae love teacakes.”

They raced toward the house, and the baron’s smile faltered. “Phoebe sent a letter asking that Prudence’s aunt, uncle, and mother not stand trial. Apparently my wife has decided that it would be detrimental to the boys to find out that their parents were found guilty of attempted murder. Phoebe has been wrestling with the decision for a while now and hasn’t been sleeping. Since she came to the decision, she is sleeping through the night.”

“What happens if the court agrees?” O’Malley asked. “Will the squire and his wife be free to collect their sons and return to their home?”

“I am waiting to hear from our solicitors on that matter.”

“Yer wife is a generous and loving woman, yer lordship. I do not believe I would be as forgiving. Ye’re a lucky man.”

“Thank you for recognizing those traits. There are days when I only see the hardheaded, feisty temptress.”

“Ye’re a lucky man, yer lordship,” Garahan said. “A hardheaded, feisty wife will stand by yer side when it seems like yer life is unraveling and every hand is against ye.”

O’Malley agreed, “Aye, her ladyship is a rare and wonderful woman. She’s got the Lippincott temper. Ye’ve been blessed.”

“I know it. Thank you, men. I’m torn. I know that my wife doesn’t want to be the one responsible for the squire and his wife paying for their crime with their lives, but Phoebe could have died.”

Garahan and O’Malley shared a pointed look, but did not speak, waiting for the baron to.

He sighed and continued, “Prudence needs to forgive them, too, so that Percy and Phineas understand the power of forgiving others, and will not have to live with the knowledge that their parents were sentenced to hang.”

“And I plan to teach them that while ye can forgive what’s done to ye—even by yer family—that does not mean ye have to forget it,” Garahan rasped.

“Ye’re a better man than me,” O’Malley mumbled.

Garahan snorted with laughter as he rushed off to man his post. “Faith, haven’t I been telling ye that for years?”

“That ye have,” O’Malley agreed as he watched his cousin stride off to do the baron’s bidding. “I’d want to watch the squire and his wife hang for their crimes.”

The baron and Flaherty did not disagree with him.