Regency Spymasters 01 - Spy Fall Page 15

  “Did you hear that?” Aldridge asked, turning away from the window to face his son.

  Grateful that the desk hid his exposed bits from view, Cosmo forced a blank expression. “Hear what, sir?”

  “I believe they’re about to take the balloon up again.”

  Relief whooshed through him. “We can certainly finish this later if you’d prefer to go and observe,” he managed to utter.

  Aldridge ran a critical eye over him. “You do seem spent. You’ve probably had enough for one afternoon. Was it too much for you?”

  “Not at all. It was very stimulating.” Cosmo cleared his throat. “I cannot tell you how much I look forward to the next session.”

  Aldridge cocked an eyebrow at him, searching Cosmo’s expression for its usual hint of mockery. Apparently satisfied by his son’s show of sincerity, the marquess jerked a nod and walked to the door.

  Pulling it open, he paused and looked back at his son. “Cosmo, do sit up like a gentleman. You’re sprawled out in that chair like a swell who’s just dabbed it up with his first woman.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  A handsome landau with a raised black leather top pulled to a halt in front of Langtry House. A scarlet and gold coat of arms emblazoned the conveyance’s saffron-colored door, which flew open to reveal little Anna, who tumbled out and came running in Mari’s direction.

  Wonder shone in the girl’s vibrant eyes as she looked up at the balloon’s bold stripes in shades of cerulean blue and golden yellow. “Oh, miss! Is it yours?”

  Mari smiled up at the girl from her kneeling position by the parachute gondola. “It belongs to my brothers and me.”

  The girl’s attention shifted from the hot air balloon to the basket Mari worked on. “What is that?”

  Mari tightened a red silk ribbon that was woven into the wicker. “It is a gondola, the basket to my parachute.”

  The girl’s face scrunched up. “What do you do with it?”

  “My parachute attaches to it; it’s like a big umbrella, and helps me float down safely when I detach from the balloon.”

  Anna gazed intently at the parachute. “What does detach mean?”

  “It means to cut loose. I attach myself to a balloon so it can take me up high. Then I cut the cord that ties me to the balloon so I can float down with my big umbrella.”

  The girl’s eyes widened. “You cut away from the balloon when it is high up in the clouds?”

  Mari suppressed a curse. She knew nothing of small children and had probably just damaged the young girl’s delicate sensibilities, but then a huge grin opened across Anna’s face. “That sounds ever so thrilling! May I do it with you?”

  Amused relief swept through Mari. “I am not certain your guardian would approve.”

  “Of what would I not approve?” asked Darling, who’d trailed behind his energetic ward. Impeccably clothed as always, he removed his hat. “Good day, Miss Lamarre.”

  She stood to greet him. “Lord Darling.”

  His silvery hair shone against a deep-burgundy tailcoat. His cravat and breeches were ivory, as was his waistcoat, which had stripes the same color as the jacket. A bright-red watch fob dangled at his waist. Glancing at her basket, he said, “We’ve interrupted your work.”

  “Nothing of serious import.” She smiled. “I am adding ribbons and sparkles so I will appear quite the spectacle for my jump near Grosvenor Square.”

  Warmth infused his brilliant sapphire eyes. “You are hardly in need of fripperies to make an impression.”

  “May I get in the basket?” Anna asked, eyeing it with a speculative gaze.

  “Anna,” Darling said, “it is not mannerly to make demands of people.”

  “It will do no harm,” Mari said, “if you care to allow it.”

  His eyes ran over the gondola. “Very well.”

  Mari lifted the girl and deposited her into the basket so that she stood inside grasping the ledge. “This is splendid. Uncle, may I go up into the clouds and jump just as Miss Lamarre does?”

  “No, Susanna, you most certainly may not.” He quickly lifted her out, as though he didn’t want her to get any ideas.

  “Is Susanna your given name?” Mari had never heard Darling call the girl by that appellation before. “It is very pretty.”

  Anna pouted. “Uncle Tristan only ever uses it when he is cross with me.”

  Darling glanced at his fob. “Look at the time. We should go in and greet our host. Lord Aldridge is no doubt wondering what’s become of us.”

  Watching them go, Mari couldn’t help but smile at the way Anna longingly peered back over her shoulder at the balloon. The child had spirit. The viscount would have his hands full in the next few years.

  “Is that Darling?”

  She turned to Marcel, who’d come over from the barn. “It is.”

  His gaze followed Anna’s retreating form. “How old is the girl?”

  “Since when do you take an interest in children?”

  “Since they might have bearing on the investigation.”

  She frowned. “What has Anna to do with anything?”

  “I picked up some unexpected information about the viscount at the tavern last night.”

  “At the tavern or in your wench’s bed?” she asked dryly.

  He shrugged. “What difference does it make?” He tilted a smile at her. “Some of the best information can be gotten after a good bedding, and this was quite interesting.”

  Her curiosity pricked. “You have new information that will help our mission?”

  “Je ne sais pas.” He bent over to pluck a blade of grass. “I just collect the facts. It is you, my sister, who deciphers how it all fits together.”

  She crossed her arms, frustrated that things had yet to fall into place in her mind. “What have you learned?”

  Dark amusement stamped his face. “Dunsmore and Darling share more than just childhood memories.”

  “Out with it.” She regarded her brother with suspicion. “What has you so entertained?”

  “They share women as well.”

  Uneasiness slithered through her. “What does that mean?”

  He gave her a you-know-what-I-mean look. Mari inhaled. “Bien. I take your meaning. Tell me.”

  “There was a woman in the village they were both knocking at the same time.”

  Disappointment swirled in her gut. Mari knew Cosmo to be an unrepentant rake who enjoyed women. Perhaps it shouldn’t surprise her that he’d had carnal knowledge of a woman at the same time as Darling. But it did. “When was this?”

  He chewed on the grass. “About six years ago.”

  “And the significance of this?”

  “The wench in question vanished for about ten months. The family said she’d gone to visit relatives.” The sharp green blade bobbed between his teeth. “The wench returned a little fuller of figure.”

  The implications set in, making her stomach feel hollow. “She had a child.”

  “That was the talk. She returned to her family with no babe. People assumed she’d disposed of it somewhere.”

  “Where is she now?”

  “Married some fellow and moved to the colonies.”

  “Her name?”

  “Irene Talbot.”

  The timeline fit. “So Irene Talbot could be young Anna’s mother.”

  “And Dunsmore her sire.”

  “Or Darling,” she snapped a little too quickly. “He is raising the girl, after all.”

  Marcel’s dark brows rose but he said nothing. He didn’t have to. If Cosmo and Darling had been docking the same woman at the same time, the girl could just as easily be Cosmo’s. It would account for his enchantment with the child. Perhaps he’d recognized a kindred spirit in Anna because she shared his blood. “Does it have any bearing on the mission?” he asked.

  “I don’t know yet.” Something niggled in her brain, a link she sensed but couldn’t quite connect. “It might.”

  He turned to go, but stopped. “Oh, on
e more thing. I almost forgot.”

  “Yes?”

  “Nobody knew where the wench and her husband got the coin for the voyage to America.”

  She mulled it over. “They could have gotten it from family members.”

  “Or it could have been a payment for services rendered,” he said over his shoulder as he sauntered off toward the barn.

  Turning the possibilities over in her mind, she returned to the mindless task of adding embellishments to her parachute gondola. Cosmo was a scapegrace, of that she had no doubt. But she’d also detected a well-hidden core of decency in him. Yes, he’d lain with and left scores of women, but she couldn’t see him abandoning his own flesh and blood. His stalwart devotion to Elinor and his father was obvious, and he’d certainly made his keen interest in her possible pregnancy abundantly clear.

  But what if he didn’t know about Irene’s child?

  It was possible Darling had taken Cosmo’s daughter without his knowledge, which would explain why he’d kept the child out of view. Then again, raising his own bye blow would be an excellent reason for discretion.

  Anna’s parentage remained on her mind later that afternoon, when Mari accompanied Aldridge, Cosmo, Darling, and Anna down to the beach to search for shells, just as Cosmo had promised the child. It was Mari’s first visit to the narrow slice of beach at the foot of the cliffs. The horseshoe-shaped cove was surrounded by bands of rock. Over the centuries, nature had shaped the unique character of the coast, melding the soft clays, chalk beds, and hard limestone into these cliffs. At one end of the beach, a natural limestone arch jutted out off the cliff, beyond the beach and into the water.

  “Look, there’s another.” Anna ran out ahead of the adults, stooping to add a new shell to her rapidly accumulating collection.

  The adults followed at a leisurely stroll to accommodate the marquess’s slow pace. A slight breeze rolled off the water, swirling salty, humid sea air around them.

  Cosmo looked ahead to where Anna frolicked close to the surf, running away when the lapping waves threatened to nip at her feet. “Do all children have this much energy?”

  “I haven’t any idea,” Darling said. “She’s the only child I know.”

  Aldridge’s keen gaze followed the girl’s movements. “Your ward is a delight, Tristan. Seeing her like this reminds me of the times the three of you and Rosie used to play on the beach.”

  “Ellie loved shells almost as much as Rosie.” Cosmo’s face softened when he glanced ahead to Anna, who’d stopped and stooped down, digging into the sand. “Perhaps fossils hold a unique attraction for young females.”

  They all fell quiet for a moment, the swooshing of the waves filling the silence, the air thick with old memories and the briny scent of the ocean. Mari could well imagine the four of them exploring the beach as children: Cosmo, dark haired and no doubt mischievous even then; fair, gentle Darling with his vivid blue eyes; Rosie’s serious gaze following Cosmo’s every move; and the good-natured, smiling girl from the portrait.

  “Anna does enjoy the beach,” Darling said. “As did we.”

  “Children bring a special happiness to a house,” Aldridge said. “Shame on you for keeping the child to yourself.”

  Darling regarded the older man with obvious fondness. “I am justly chastised, sir. However, in my defense, your time at Langtry has been limited since Anna came to into my care, and I am not much in Town.”

  “True enough.” They walked on for a while until Aldridge slowed his steps. “Regrettably, I must return. I have a meeting with my steward.”

  “Yes, of course.” Darling called out ahead to the girl. “Anna, it is time to go.”

  His ward halted with a pout. “But I am not ready.”

  Aldridge’s mouth curved. “I’m quite capable of returning on my own. Let the child play.”

  “I had hoped to seek your steward’s advice on some estate matters of concern at Kenwood,” Darling said.

  “Go on, then,” Cosmo said. “Miss Lamarre and I can look after Anna.” Darling hesitated, seeming unsure. “Go on, Tris, I’m unlikely to bungle anything too badly with the ever-competent Miss Lamarre at my side.”

  Darling acquiesced, walking ahead to have a word with Anna before joining Aldridge to head back to the manor house. Watching them go, Cosmo said, “I’m surprised to hear Darling speak of money troubles.”

  “The viscount certainly does not dress as though finances are a problem.”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know that they are. When he inherited, the estate was nearly bankrupt, but Darling managed to turn things around.” They walked in silence for a bit. “Have you ever swived on the beach?” he asked.

  The unexpected question startled a laugh out of her. “I cannot say that I have.”

  His ebony eyes glowed. “I should very much like to make love to you on the beach, just where the water comes ashore.”

  Her body warmed at the thought. She could well imagine making love with him outside among the elements; the sky, the sand, and the water. Pondering this, she gazed around and came to an abrupt stop when she realized the child had disappeared. “Where is Anna?”

  Cosmo took a quick survey of the narrow beach before striding over to a rock formation in the cliff. Peering at something Mari couldn’t see, he smiled. “It appears she’s found our favorite hiding place, haven’t you, Anna?”

  The giggling girl slipped out of a narrow alcove. “Oh, Uncle Cosmo. However did you find me?”

  “It was not difficult. I used to hide there often myself. Only the most clever people discover it.”

  Anna ran back toward the water while Mari peered inside the dark space, which looked barely large enough to shelter two grown people standing up.

  As they resumed walking, she asked, “Do you know a woman named Irene Talbot?”

  Surprise flitted across the strong angles of his face. “You certainly know how to break the mood. We were discussing making love and you raise women from my past who have no bearing on the present.”

  If only that were true. “It is hardly appropriate to discuss seduction while we are charged with looking after a child.”

  “Why do you ask about Irene?”

  “Her name has come up during the investigation.”

  “My private affairs are part of your investigation?” He seemed amused. “I’m flattered.”

  “Do not be. Marcel was looking into Darling’s background.”

  “I cannot imagine what Irene would have to do with Darling.”

  She forced the question out. “Did you and Darling engage in a ménage à trois with Miss Talbot?”

  His dark brows shot up. “Mademoiselle Lamarre! I am shocked you even comprehend what that is.”

  She noted he hadn’t answered the question. “Did you?”

  Distaste twisted his well-formed lips. “Absolutely not. I do not engage in that kind of behavior.” At her questioning look, he amended his answer. “At least not in the company of another man. That’s one prick too many for me.”

  Meaning he did engage in that kind of behavior with more than one woman. Cochon. Jealousy sliced through her at the idea of him cavorting with two women.

  “Why?” A provocative glint sparked in his ebony eyes. “Are you interested in such a thing? If so, I’m happy to oblige your curiosity.”

  Irritated by the idea of him with other women, she blinked. “With two men?”

  His eyes widened. “Is that what you like?”

  She bit back a sharp retort, ignoring the twang in her chest at his apparent assumption that she spread her thighs at every opportunity. Not that she could really blame him, given the way she tossed up her skirts every time he entered a room.

  “Is that what you want?” Tension infused his words. “A tryst with me and Darling?

  She shook her head. “You really are an idiot.”

  Both relief and confusion showed in his face. “What are we talking about here? I confess I am quite lost.”

  “We are discuss
ing the fact that you and Darling had carnal relations with Irene Talbot during the same time period.”

  “We most certainly did not.”

  “You deny bedding her?”

  “No, I do not.” He pressed his lips together. “Only the lowest of scoundrels speaks of the women he has relations with, but I am going to indulge you this one time. Irene Talbot was a lively village girl of a certain charm. We engaged in a liaison for several weeks. I was not her first lover, and I’m certain I wasn’t the last.”

  “And Darling?”

  His exasperation was plain. “I’ve no idea of what you speak where he is concerned.”

  “Marcel’s information is that Darling also had an affair with her at the same time.”

  His face changed, grew serious. “I don’t believe it.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “If it occurred, it was without my knowledge.”

  “Were you aware that she went away shortly after your liaison ended?”

  “No. I returned to London. That was the year Elinor died. I didn’t return to Langtry for several years afterward, as you well know. How is that relevant to anything?”

  “She was gone for ten months.”

  At first he appeared confused, then comprehension settled into his face. “Are you going to present me with a bye blow?”

  “It is a possibility, is it not?”

  “No, it is not. I am exceedingly careful in that regard.” At her pointed look, he blew out an exasperated breath. “Except for my lapses with you.”

  “Look.” Anna’s excited voice cut in on them. She waved her latest find. “It is such a big shell.”

  Cosmo’s face softened as he smiled at the child. “It is grand, Miss Anna,” he called to her. “Magnificent.”

  “Irene Talbot could be her mother.”

  His expression sobered as he appeared to ponder the possibility. “Irene. Anna’s mother.”

  She watched his face. “Is the timing right?”

  He looked upward in silent calculation. “If Darling was indeed keeping company with Irene at the same time I was, then yes, it is possible.”

  She wondered if he’d cared for the woman. “Are you bothered she entertained Darling while she was involved with you?”

  “Not where Irene is concerned. It was just sport with her.” His expression grew contemplative. He turned his attention back to Anna, who gestured wildly for them to join her. “However, if it is true, it would be a subterfuge I had not thought Darling capable of.”