Page 16 of The Honorable Rogue (The Notorious Nightingales #5)

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

B efore Charles could react, they’d straightened and pointed pistols at him. Both had the lower half of their faces covered.

“Don’t move or we shoot!” Two men walking out of the trees, also with pistols and masks, spoke these words.

“Throw your weapons to the floor and then put your valuables into this sack.”

He watched Mungo slide a hand into his jacket. Their eyes met, and Charles shook his head. Thankfully, the fiery Scotsman did not pull out his pistol.

“You, back to the carriage,” one of the men with Charles said. “Now!”

Charles moved, and when he reached the carriage, Ram was standing outside, eyes narrowed with anger.

“Move to the rear of the carriage and put your possessions in this sack,” one man said, approaching. He then threw it at Charles’s feet.

“Stay calm,” Ram said.

Charles took out his pocket watch and his money clip.

“Why are you searching the carriage?” Mungo roared .

“Shut your bloody mouth!” one of the men replied as he stood in the doorway. “Fancy carriages have plenty of places to hide things.”

Once they’d emptied their pockets, and the carriage had been searched, Charles was sure the men would leave. He studied their features for anything he’d remember, but he could see only their eyes and brows.

“Throw the sack.”

Ram did.

“Hands in the air.”

They did as they were told, and then one man stepped forward and patted Charles down. Opening his jacket, he then pulled out Violet’s handkerchief and shook it.

“That is?—”

“Shut your mouth,” the man snarled, and Charles felt his anger climb.

“You have what you want. Now leave,” he said in a hard voice.

“You don’t get to tell me what to do. You toffs all prancing about in society have no idea what it’s like for the rest of us.” The man spat the words at Charles.

“How do you know I’m part of society?”

The eyes widened above the scarf. “You’ve got the look of one.”

“And you’ve got the look of someone with no honor or morals,” he replied.

“Charles,” Ram cautioned.

“Shut up!” The muzzle of the man’s pistol was now an inch from Charles’s face. “Or I’ll blow your brains out.”

“At least I have some to blow out.”

“Charles, stop,” Ram said with more force.

“You should listen to your friend,” the man snarled at him.

Did we get it ?

The words were loud in his head, and Charles wondered which man had thought them and what they were after.

“Someone’s coming!” one roared, and seconds later, they were all sprinting into the trees.

Arriving at a gallop on horseback was Captain Brownly. He reached them and dismounted.

“My God, are you both all right? What happened?”

“We are well. They simply wanted our valuables,” Charles said.

“Angry but well,” his brother-in-law muttered. “I’m not sure why you felt a need to provoke him, but I had visions of telling your sister I’d let someone put a bullet through your skull, Charles. Now, I’ll just see to our angry Scotsman before he gives chase.”

“I have brandy in my flask if you need some,” Captain Brownly said, pulling it out.

“Thank you, but I am well,” Charles said, his eyes still on the trees. Those men were after something specific, but what? He bent to retrieve Violet’s handkerchief he’d been carrying with him ever since the bookshop. “We need to leave here.” He felt something was wrong, and not just that they had been robbed.

“Vermin,” Mungo snarled when Charles and Captain Brownly reached him. He was now on the ground, standing by the horses’ heads. “You should have let me shoot one of them. That would have taught them a lesson.”

“And they would likely have retaliated by shooting one of us,” Ram said. “Now come, let’s clear this road and be on our way. I don’t feel good standing here in the open.”

They pushed the carts to the side and were soon back in the carriage. Captain Brownly rode beside them.

“Ram, do you think it odd they did not take your ring?” Charles said, looking at the large gold signet ring his father had recently given him .

“And that they searched you more thoroughly than me?”

“Yes. Something about that entire incident felt off. I heard one of them thinking, Did we get it? in my head. But what were they after?”

“That’s odd,” Ram said. “They knew we were members of society too. Now, have a praline. I know I, for one, need it.”

He bit into one, enjoying the hit of sweetness.

“I’m not sure what possessed you to provoke them, Charles.”

“I was angry. It happens rarely, but when it does, I tend to say what I’m thinking.”

“Excellent, I will ensure I never anger you then.” Ram paused, seeming to ponder if he should continue but then doing so anyway. “Charles, why is it you carry a woman’s handkerchief embroidered with flowers?”

“I’m not sure how that got into my pocket. I must have picked it up by mistake,” he lied.

“That’s a whopping untruth, but if you have no wish to tell me, then just say so,” Ram said.

“I have no wish to tell you.”

“Very well, but all this secrecy will come out one day.”

“Possibly, but until then, I will hold my secrets close,” Charles added.

The men lapsed into silence then while they thought about what had just occurred. Staying that way until the carriage turned into a narrow road, which they traveled down for the next few minutes. When they stopped, Charles saw a group of people standing before a field of pasture. Some of them he was related to; others, not. Cyn, Leo’s wife, was also there.

“Should she be here?” Charles asked as they climbed out “Surely a long carriage ride and being so far from London is not good in her condition?”

“Cyn is not dying, Charles, just carrying a baby. Do you think those less fortunate than us take weeks off to loll about the place waiting for their child to appear?”

Charles studied his brother-in-law. “You’re spending far too much time with my sister.”

Ram smiled. “She’s a wonderful woman with exceptionally strong views, and when I tell her what occurred today, she will shriek louder than a London street vendor.”

“I’m quite sure I would say opinionated, but then I’m not in love with her the way you are, and yes, you are right. Flora will be furious on our behalf.”

“There is that.”

They got out and joined the others.

“You see, all is well,” Bram said as they approached the group. “Leo and Alex felt something wasn’t right with you all.”

“It wasn’t,” Ram said. “We were just robbed. Captain Brownly’s arrival sent the men on their way.”

“Christ,” Leo whispered. “And you are all unhurt?”

“We are,” Charles said. “It was over fairly quickly.”

“I saw four men, all armed by the looks of it,” Captain Brownly said, joining them after tethering his horse.

Cyn held out a small bag, and Charles put his hand in and came out with a lemon drop.

“The sugary sweet tartness is excellent for shock,” she said. “I’m so sorry you went through that.”

“They got money and my pocket watch,” Charles said. “It was all a bit odd, actually. They searched me and the carriage thoroughly but not Ram, and they never asked him to take off his ring.”

“Why would they not take his ring?” Leo demanded.

“No idea, and now I want to know why it is you’ve brought me here?” Charles said, giving his cousin a steady look, which he hoped he interpreted to mean “we’ll talk more on this later.” People tended to look at you oddly if you said you heard voices inside your head.

Mr. Murphy, the Nightingale man of affairs, was also there. He seemed to be talking to himself, his arms waving about enthusiastically as he did so.

“What is Mr. Murphy doing?” Charles whispered to Leo.

“He is envisioning.”

“What?”

“Well now, Cousin, this is going to be an investment into our future,” Leo said, taking a lemon drop from Cyn’s bag. “I understand you are now in the newspaper industry, so this will be in the capacity of a silent investor. Even so, I believe the yields will be good.”

“Good day, everyone, and welcome. I am Mr. Beakey,” a large man in a tweed jacket said, moving to stand before them. “If we are all ready, I will explain the details of this venture.”

Alex sucked loudly on his lemon drop.

“I want to build a locomotive factory,” Mr. Beakey added. He then went on to explain his vision and what he required from investors. When he was done, he handed out papers.

“Close your eyes, Charles, and imagine this,” Bram said.

“He’s far better to keep them open,” Leo added. “It’s easier to see where it will sit than imagine it.”

“And there is the practical soul of my elder brother,” Alex said.

“What’s that wee fool about,” Mungo said, joining them. He was glaring at Mr. Murphy, who was bent inspecting the ground at his feet. Mungo had taken a disliking to Mr. Murphy from the start simply because he was Irish.

“How are you, Mungo? I heard what happened,” Cyn said.

“He wouldn’t let me shoot one of them,” the Scotsman growled .

“Oh, now that seems unfair,” Alex said with a mocking smile.

“So, what do you all think?” Bram asked as they followed the others to inspect the land. “We are far enough from London that I believe it will make an excellent place for a foundry. There is water from the river and plenty of space.”

Charles agreed and felt excitement build inside him again. First, Cam’s proposition, and now this. His life was changing and for the better. Perhaps he had been directionless, but that was no longer the case.

He had a vision of Violet as he’d seen her that day in the oak trees then. So sweet he’d kissed her. Will she ever be part of my future?

“And now we are off to the Hen and Rooster to eat and discuss the locomotive factory,” Bram said.

“Excellent, I’m famished,” Cyn said, waddling back to the carriage.

“I will have to forgo this portion of the journey, as I have something that needs my attention back in London,” Captain Brownly said. “But it’s my wish that the remainder of your trip is uneventful.”

“Amen to that,” Ram muttered.