The Vagabond Duchess

‘Her ladyship’s steward,’ Jack said impatiently.

‘Not… He’s not here, my lord.’

‘Who’s in charge?’

‘You devil! What have you done with her?’ A man barrelled out of an open door towards Jack.

Jack spun to face his assailant, reaching for his sword hilt. Then he saw the man was unarmed, his face filled with raw fear.

‘What have you done with her?’ The man seized Jack’s coat front and tried to shake him.

‘If you are referring to Lady Desire, I haven’t done anything with her,’ Jack said coldly. ‘She is under the protection of Colonel Balston, who will guard her with his life. When I last saw them they were on their way back to London.’

‘What are you talking about?’ The man gave Jack another frustrated shake.

Under any other circumstances Jack wouldn’t have tolerated the impertinence, but he could see the panic in the other man’s eyes. It reminded him of Nellie Carpenter’s fear for her lost daughter.

‘Lady Desire is perfectly safe,’ Jack repeated, taking the man’s wrists and compelling him to release his grip, but making no other retaliation. ‘Who are you?’

‘Benjamin Finch, her ladyship’s Gentleman of the Horse.’ Finch remembered his dignity and took a step back from Jack. ‘And I know you, your Grace. You have no business uninvited here, in her ladyship’s house.’

‘I am invited,’ Jack replied, concealing his discomfort beneath an aloof tone. ‘I am here at Lady Desire’s request.’ It was stretching the truth somewhat. He’d actually come at Jakob’s request and the pressing of his own conscience to make amends for his former lack of gallantry to Lady Desire, but saw no need to share that with Finch.

‘Why?’

‘Where is Arscott?’

‘He went back to London in search of Lady Desire. When we left the Strand yesterday he came by river, I came by road. We both thought she was with the other, but then it turned out she wasn’t anywhere.’

‘She didn’t want to leave her home,’ said Jack, gentling his tone in response to the other man’s distress. ‘But she came to no harm. Colonel Balston took her to…a place of safety,’ he said, judging it would make Finch more suspicious if he realised Lady Desire had spent the night under Jack’s roof.

‘Who the devil is Colonel Balston? We don’t know any Colonel Balston. It’s your doing, isn’t it, you—’

‘Where is Lady Desire’s treasure chest?’

‘What?’ Finch stared in horror. ‘You thief! I’ll not let you have it!’

‘Pour l’amour de Dieu! I’ve come to protect it—not steal it! An attempt was made to abduct your mistress on Saturday. The man who ordered the abduction wants her fortune. I’m here to make sure he doesn’t take the fortune, even though he missed the lady. And before you make the accusation, I am not the guilty party.’ Jack took a deep breath and continued more calmly. ‘Since you recognise me, you will also allow I owe your mistress some recompense. So…I will guard her treasure until this matter is resolved. Which I trust will not take long. Now, show me where it is.’

Within a few minutes Jack had assured himself the treasure chest had not been tampered with and Benjamin Finch was rushing to London to find Lady Desire.

Jack sighed and sat down, propping his feet on the troublesome treasure chest. He had a similar chest of his own at Kilverdale Hall, which at times could contain as much as six or seven thousand pounds. Lady Desire’s income was almost as large as Jack’s and, since she lived retired, her expenses were smaller. Jack suspected there could be as much as nine or ten thousand pounds beneath his feet.