Venice Read online

  Richard lifted me while Martha put the pillows behind me, then he leaned me against them, watching me to make sure I was comfortable, so I smiled for him.

  He kissed my forehead. “My poor sweetheart! You’ve been through so much recently and now I fear there may be more to come.” He kept his arm around my shoulders.

  I stared at him, new fear rising. “What do you mean?”

  He kept all his attention on me as though we were the only people in the room. “I don’t think we can risk the yacht now.”

  “Do you think they might have got to that, too?” Gervase demanded.

  Richard shrugged. “I think it highly likely. I’ll have it searched by people I can trust without question before we use it again and that would take too long for what I have in mind now.” He lifted his head and looked around. “Our new plans must go no further than this room.”

  Murmurs of agreement followed and Richard nodded his thanks. “We will still go away, but more circumspectly. The yacht was no secret, moored at the coast for the last two weeks. Anyone could have got to it in that time.”

  Frowning, he leaned against the bed head. I closed my eyes and rested my head on his shoulder, taking comfort from him. Martha made the only sound as she crossed the room to wring out the cloths and then returned to bathe my wound.

  Richard took a deep breath and opened his eyes. “Very well, this is what we’ll do.” He tucked his free arm behind his head. “We’ll confuse anyone pursuing us by spreading rumours and with your help, we’ll make them all seem likely. We’ll put it about that Rose is seriously injured and she’s at the house.” He shot a quicksilver glance at James for permission, and James nodded. He bared his teeth in a feral smile. “If we start the word in the servants’ hall, it’ll be all around the district by morning. We’ll put someone in a carriage and send her to the house we’ve hired as if she were Rose. She will slowly recover, of course, and then you can send us both away, perhaps to my house in Oxfordshire, where we will not receive visitors for some time. If you say Rose is disfigured, that may go some way towards satisfying the Drurys, if it was indeed they who ordered this. We can spread other stories, too, about this incident, because I want a smokescreen. Be as inventive as you wish. Say she’s seriously injured, that we’ve gone straight to the yacht, that I’ve taken her to my parents’ home in Derbyshire, and that we’ve gone to London to seek the advice of a good surgeon. Anything you wish.”

  He paused while they nodded or murmured agreement. “For the knowledge of the people in this room only, here’s what we’re really going to do. I’ll send the yacht on its way as another decoy, but Rose and I will travel on the public packet and then by road.” He sat up, sliding his arm from behind my shoulders and he took my hands in his, turning me to face him. “I’m sorry, my love, but I fear we must travel separately.”

  I couldn’t believe he’d said that. “No! Not now, we can’t!”

  He smiled ruefully. “I said I was taking no chances with you and I meant it. If they’re watching the ports, they’ll be watching for couples. We have no way of knowing if this was one chance attempt or a concerted attack, in which case they will try to hunt us down and the rumours we set won’t hold them for long. You may travel from Topsham, being the closest to Peacock’s, and I’ll travel from further up the coast.”

  This news sent me into more shock than the shooting. I bit my lower lip, forcing the tears back. The last thing he needed now was a feeble woman. He gripped my hands as if he’d never let go. I wished that were true.

  “We’ll travel under assumed names, of course. Carier usually has some papers.”

  This last made James and Tom exclaim in astonishment.

  Richard left them to draw their own conclusions. “I’ll travel alone—I can move much faster that way. I’ll scout the route and make sure everything is as it should be.”

  “Should you mind if I came with you?” Gervase said.

  Richard lifted a quizzical eyebrow at his twin. “And advertise our presence so loudly that they’ll be waiting for us? I think not, brother.”

  Gervase scowled, but Richard was right. Everyone knew he was one of identical twins, and for them to travel together would be virtual suicide. “Truly, I’ll be better alone. But I could use an agent here to communicate with Thompson’s and send word when it’s safe for us to return. Not that I can promise to return immediately, of course.” Such was my confusion it took me some moments before I got his meaning. It was our bride-trip, after all.

  Martha and James alone of the people in the room didn’t know what Richard meant by Thompson’s, but he didn’t enlighten them.

  Thompson’s was a registry office for domestic staff that Richard had helped his manservant to finance. Carier’s army pension, Richard’s investment and the mysterious Mrs. Thompson had made it into the best agency for upper staff in London. Also a spy network and it provided the means for a private army. Now he would use the network to try to find out who had tried to kill us.

  “Carier and Nichols will travel with Rose, ostensibly as her personal servants, but also as her bodyguards. I will not have her in any more danger. She may pose as a lady travelling to join her husband abroad, or even a widow.” He shook his head. “No, not a widow.” That relieved me because I didn’t wish to become a widow, even in pretence so soon after my wedding day. His tone gentled when he addressed me. “Do you remember when I asked you to come away with me if my parents tried to push me into marrying Julia? We would marry quietly and go abroad, I said.”

  I blushed, remembering the time only too well. “Venice.”

  “I meant it.” He’d said he wanted to make love to me there, with the windows open to the light. “That would be the best place. The apartment is small, but comfortable. I’ve only ever used it for myself, as a bolthole. I had an identity for us both drawn up at the time, and if Carier has done his job, he should still have the requisite papers.”

  I stared at him, astonished. “You weren’t leaving anything to chance, were you?”

  “Not once you said yes, my love.” His gravity disarmed me. “I shall be a wine merchant, and you may be a wine merchant’s wife, travelling to join him abroad. Should you object to that?”

  “Not if I’m still your wife,” I replied shyly.

  He gave me a tender smile. “Oh, I have you now, and I intend to keep you.” He kept my gaze for a moment, as if we were the only people in that room and then he grinned, his mood changing in a flash. “I do hope Carier and Nichols had the foresight to unload some of our luggage. I can hardly travel in white velvet.”

  After settling me on the pillows behind us, he rose and crossed the room to the window, not standing before it but to one side. “It seems quiet enough now.”

  Tom spoke. “I sent servants outside to see if they could find any lurkers, but I fear whoever it was is long gone.”

  “You’re probably right,” Gervase said. “Whoever fired the shot wouldn’t linger. Richard, give me a note of hand and I’ll ride for London. In fact, I’ll set out in a coach dressed in something of yours. Set the rumours going.”

  Richard turned back from his contemplation of the scene outside. “I would appreciate that. I should be gone as soon as it can be arranged, so if you don’t mind, I’d like a little time alone with my wife.”

  He had made it perfectly clear that I was his now, by word, deed and intent. Nobody gainsaid him. I had half expected James to protest, to offer to take care of me for a while, because he’d had his doubts of Richard from the first, but he said nothing of the kind now.

  The others left the room. Martha embraced me, frowning in a worried way, but she only murmured for me to take care before she left.

  Richard closed the door behind them. I sat up and swung my feet over the side of the bed, heading for the mirror to see what damage my appearance had suffered.

  The diamond hair ornament was gone, shot away from its position above my ear. It probably lay in pieces on the floor of the coach. Martha had t
aken off the heavy girandole earrings I’d worn, but now she’d washed the blood away, I could see that the wound was negligible. I touched the site gingerly. I looked piebald where the white powder had been washed away to reveal the brown hair beneath. Yet again, my appearance was ruined and while I was not vain, I would dearly have loved to show to advantage before Richard for once. My husband.

  I turned around, feeling suddenly shy, but he strode across the room, took me in his arms, and kissed me as if we had all night.

  He drew away. “I’m sorry sweetheart but I think we may have to wait a little longer for our wedding night.” He kissed me again. I responded, trying to show him how much I needed him, but he set me away gently.

  “Venice was my first choice for us, and now it will happen that way. But it won’t spoil anything—I promise you.”

  Despair clutched my stomach, threatening to eject the small amount I’d managed to eat at the wedding breakfast. “I don’t mind where we are, I’ve always told you that. But can we not travel together? Do we have to part?”

  He frowned. “I’m afraid we must. I’ve done this journey before, and I can travel swiftly, but I want the road clear and I want you guarded. I believe whoever wishes us harm is conning the ports closely. They’ll be watching the yacht, that’s for certain, and probably the main ports as well.”

  “Don’t you think you’re exaggerating the danger? Couldn’t it have been one stray shot?”

  He took me in his arms again as if he couldn’t stop himself. “Someone was aiming at us. One shot might possibly have been an accident, but two—no. That argues a plan, and they won’t give up with one failure.” He held me tighter until my stay-bones creaked under the strain, but I didn’t protest. I wanted closer to him than this, skin to skin. “Rose, sweetheart, wife, I want you with me for a very long time. I won’t jeopardise that for an impatience we can overcome. We have no way of knowing who is after us and why, and I won’t put you in any more danger.”

  “Who do you think it is?”

  “If I knew for sure, I could rest easier. I’ve made enemies over the years, and it could be anyone. But I think it more likely to be either the Drurys, or the Cawntons.” The Drurys, Julia and Steven, our erstwhile partners whom we’d jilted to be together. Or the large and organised gang of smugglers who owned this part of the coast. “I’d rest easier if I knew it was the Drurys, because the Cawntons have deeper pockets and more resources.” He sighed. “If we can find out who is behind this, we may be able to move swiftly and bring them to justice.”

  “Like Norrice Terry?”

  I hated that I’d said that, but I needed to know. Richard shook his head. “No, emphatically not. Although if they’d hurt you any more—” His angry stare went to my wound and he lifted one hand, only to feather it with a touch I couldn’t feel and then return it to my waist. “No, not that. But if we can find out who it was, then I’ll join you abroad and we’ll travel together.” His gaze softened. “Will you promise me something?”

  “Anything.” I wanted to alleviate the anxiety he’d revealed now we were alone.

  At least I made him smile. “Then promise me that for the next few weeks you won’t go anywhere without Carier or Nichols. Nichols will sleep in your room and Carier will arrange the bodyguards for the road and watch over you at night. I know it will irritate you, I know you love to be on your own, but for the time being, it’s too dangerous. Promise me.”

  I promised. “Then I’ll have you to look after me at night.” I put one hand to his cheek.

  “So you will.” He caught my hand and kissed the palm, sending shivers of desire through me.

  I couldn’t weaken now—the last thing he needed was to watch me, lachrymose, waving him away tragically. I was his wife and nothing could alter that now—except one niggling doubt, and maybe a way of persuading him to share the bliss we felt together. “Don’t we have to consummate the marriage before it’s fully in force? I read something once about Henry VIII, about how he divorced one of his wives for non-consummation.”

  He grinned. “Anne of Cleves. He disliked her on sight. He was looking for an excuse to be rid of her respectably. Of course, if you should want rid of me, you could always apply for an annulment...” He lifted an eyebrow.

  “Oh no, if you want an annulment, you’ll have to do it yourself, because I’m so happy to have you, I’ll trail around over half Europe after you.”

  “Then you are truly my wife, and I’ll make good the other part in Venice.”

  “Promise?”

  “I swear it.” His breath shivered over my face before he kissed me so hard I could barely breathe. I wanted him so much I didn’t know how I could bear even a day apart.

  He drew away and lifted his hand to remove the diamond pin he always wore at his neckcloth. He handed it to me. “Keep this safe for me?”

  I forced a smile and closed my hand over it, feeling the warmth it had collected from his body.

  I remembered something recent events had put from my mind, and drew out a small, silk-wrapped parcel from my pocket. “I have something for you. I meant to give it to you in the carriage.” I watched him unwrap it.

  I’d had a miniature of myself done in Exeter the previous February, when we had spent some time apart. Martha assured me Richard would like to have it, but I felt foolish, giving someone my own likeness as though he should thank me for it. That was why I’d never given it to him before, but if he ever wanted such a thing, I supposed it would be now.

  He studied it in silence, and then looked up and gave me his perfect smile. His eyes were brighter than usual and his voice wavered when he spoke. “What a lovely thought. It will improve my mood when I’m on the road. Thank you, my love. I’ll keep it safe.” It was the nearest he came to breaking. I held my smile too, to honour him.

  The sound of horses arriving outside drew us to the window and we saw Carier and Nichols get out of a small, unremarkable carriage. The basket behind it did contain some luggage and I recognised one of my bags. They wasted no time, but hurried into the house.

  Richard took me in his arms one last time. “I fear that’s our cue to part. I must leave as soon as I can. I may find a passage across to France tonight, and gain a head start on you.” I couldn’t stop my stricken look then, and he held me tightly. “You know everything I want to say,” he murmured next to my ear—the uninjured one. “I’ve loved you from the moment I first saw you, and I love you still. I have no doubt I’ll love you until the day I die.”

  “Oh, don’t say that!” I pulled back to look at him.

  He was smiling. “What? I love you?”

  “No, that you’ll die.”

  He caressed my cheek. “I’m not planning on it for a few years yet. I’ll take the greatest care, I swear it. Even if we travel the entire distance separately it won’t be much more than three weeks before we see each other again. That, in exchange for years to come, should be worth waiting for.”

  I tried to smile. “I love you. All this is bearable because I’m married to you, and I know you’ll wait for me.”

  “Not for too long, I hope,” he murmured, trailing tiny kisses across my jaw.

  He took my mouth once more, then he crossed the room and left, without looking back.

  Chapter Four

  NICHOLS ENTERED THE room as soon as Richard left.

  She frowned thoughtfully, studying my condition. “If your ladyship can bear it, I would like to wash the powder out of your hair and then dress it over the wound. If we can make it less noticeable it will help us to pass unremarked.”

  I underwent the procedure after Nichols had helped me take off my finery. “The rest of your ladyship’s luggage is on the quayside at Topsham. It will be sent separately to Venice, by a different route. I have transferred all we will need into smaller boxes.” I found her efficiency in this crisis deeply impressive.

  Just as I left the dressing room after having my hair rinsed, I heard the sound of a single horse, clattering across the court
yard below. I knew who it was and I tried not to listen as the sound died away, but I knew the minute he went out of earshot.

  Carier came up to tell me his master had left. I would not break, would not cry. “I know, I heard. When do we leave?”

  “As soon as your ladyship is ready. The reception will break up shortly and I hope the guests’ departures will help to mask ours, even though most of them will leave from the front of the house and we will not.” He stood behind me where I sat at the dressing table, so I could see him in the mirror. “I have papers for you under the name of Mrs. Locke, travelling to join your merchant husband in Venice. We will avoid telling people our destination if we can. His lordship will travel under the name of Philips, although he will use the name Locke when he arrives at Venice, since his papers say Mr. Philips is unmarried. It will serve to confuse any pursuers further. I will check he is not followed, and I will try to do so without impeding our progress. His lordship is anxious we reach our destination without unnecessary delay.”

  I suppressed my smile, sure security wasn’t the only reason Richard urged speed. “So am I. Did you examine the yacht?”

  Nichols draped a lock of damp hair across my brow and removed the pins from her mouth to secure it in place. “We had no time my lady, although Carier left orders for it to be done. We received the message that you had been hurt, and we set off at once.”

  “Before we left Topsham, I took the liberty of obtaining passage to Cherbourg on a packet leaving tomorrow morning. I also booked a room at a respectable, though not fashionable inn. I trust that will be in order?”

  “It sounds perfectly sensible,” I replied.

  Carier bowed and left the room so I could change.

  I couldn’t hold back any longer, so I let myself cry. Nichols handed me clean handkerchiefs as I needed them but said nothing. She kept busy about her work, as a good maid should, but her harsh features softened. I felt better for her unspoken sympathy. This was not the wedding night I had anticipated. But I was alive and married, so I had a lot to be thankful for. I dried my eyes for the last time and prepared to leave.