A Little Bit Wild (19 page)

"She won't say anything." Aidan growled. "Not even when threatened with the constable, and that may turn out to be our only option."

She frowned at the girl, but was momentarily distracted from her study by the movement of Jude next to her. He walked away and stood looking out the window at the black night beyond, his back to the room. She wanted to follow him over to that private corner and ask if he could forgive her. It wasn't the time for such discussions, but her legs ached with the need to walk to him.

Impatient now, Marissa strode to the woman and tried to pull her hood back, but the girl yelped and held light to the fabric. "Oh, for goodness sake," Marissa huffed. "Let me see you."

A whimper emerged from the layers of cheap wool.

Edward said, "That's odd," and came to join Marissa. "She didn't put up such a fight with us."

A thought bloomed in her head. "She's a maid, you said?"

"Of some kind, I believe."

Marissa took a deep breath. "Take off the hood," she said one more time. The head shook again, and Marissa sighed in sorrow. "Take it off, Tess, or I shall have the men hold you down and I'll take it off myself."

The figure went still as a stone, while Edward looked at Marissa in confusion. "Tess?"

"My lady's maid. The one who went missing last month? We had to hire a new one, remember?" Edward still looked no clearer, but when Marissa reached for the cloak this time, the material slid free of the girl's hands and her brown hair was exposed.

"Tess," Marissa sighed heavily. It was her maid, and that explained the description of the birthmark on Marissa's thigh. Her embarrassing confession had been completely unnecessary. Though it had saved Peter White's life, she supposed, whatever that might be worth.

"How could you have done this?"

Tears spilled down the maid's cheeks, and she shook her head. "I'm sorry, miss."

"I was so worried about you. Mother said you'd probably run off to get married, but I was afraid something dreadful had happened!"

"I didn't meant to hurt you," Tess whispered.

"Well, you have!"

"I'm sorry! It... she ..." Tess bit back her own words and ducked her head.

"Who?" Marissa barked. "Did someone pay you to do this? Who was it?"

Tess sobbed quietly and didn't volunteer another word. Marissa supposed at another time she would've admired the girl's steel, but right now she was far too betrayed for any generous thoughts. Marissa set her shoulders back and straightened her spine, trying to draw enough air to think, but all reasonable thought lied when she realized Jude stood at her shoulder.

"Are von all right?" he murmured, and when she turned to him, his arms opened and suddenly she was surrounded by him. Nothing else existed in that moment. Nothing but Jude's safe arms and spicy scent. His mouth brushed the top of her head, sending awareness tingling down her neck. He still liked her enough to pity her, at least, and Marissa felt tired enough to take priceless joy in that.

"I'm sorry," she breathed into his chest, knowing he would not hear it. Now was not the time, but she held on and let him stroke her back for a few more moments before she eased herself away. She was almost sure he hesitated before letting her go, but in the end it was probably her own imagination, because his face was still a stony facade.

Her brothers watched her with worry, but Marissa felt steadier when she turned back to watch Tess sob. "Who paid you, Tess? I assume you were paid, and didn't just do this because you dislike me?"

"Of course not!" the maid gasped. "I ... I can't say any more. I can't."

"Why? Just tell me who did this and go. It's that simple. No damage done." She managed to make that lie sound quite genuine, Marissa thought.

"I can't! " Tess wailed. Marissa really couldn't understand her adamance. What did she have to lose? Was she being threatened? But what could be held over the head of lady's maid?

"This is useless," Aidan muttered.

Edward agreed. "She's using information gleaned during her employment to blackmail you, Marissa. The constable will surely be interested in that. Perhaps she'll change her mind once she's been carted off. I'll send for him now. Jude?"

Marissa watched Tess, expecting her to waver at the thought of arrest, but the girl stared steadily at her lap, resigned to her fate. Marissa held up a hand to stop the men, then knelt down in front of her. "If you won't speak, then I'll have to go visit your family. Perhaps they know where you've been employed."

Tess's head flew up, eyes wide with panic.

"They're in Hull, are they not?"

She shook her head, face blanching.

"Yes, they're in Hull. I remember you went there to visit your mother last Easter. You must have written to let them know your new direction, because we haven't received any letters for you. That was one of the reasons Mother insisted you must be fine."

Tess stared, bug-eyed, at Marissa for a long time; then she looked to each of the men, as if one of them might save her. Apparently, she didn't find a friendly face, because her eyes filled with more tears. "If I tell you, she won't pay me. It's the only reason I did it, I swear. One hundred pounds ... I still have four sisters at home. Even if I spend a year in jail, that money would ..."

"It's too late now," Edward said softly. 'Just tell the truth."

Silence swelled in the room until it became a relentless buzzing in Marissa's ears. The clock on Edward's desk licked, and she wondered how she'd never noticed the sound before. Likely, her family was never this quiet.

Finally, Tess spoke. "At first, she paid me twenty pounds just to come work for her. Twenty pounds!"

"That's why you left?"

"I sent it all to my mum, I swear. It's not that I'm greedy."

Marissa nodded as if she understood.

"I should've known the woman was up to no good, but I thought maybe she'd admired your hair and such... ."

"Who?" Jude demanded.

Tess swallowed hard. "It was Mrs. Charles LeMont."

No one so much as breathed. The clock ticked even louder.

Tess seemed to relax, as if she knew her part was done.

"Mrs. LeMont?" Edward said. "That's ridiculous."

"She's pregnant," Aidan added.

Marissa shot them both a scornful glare as she rose to her feet. "And what has that to do with anything?"

Edward looked dumbfounded. "She's .so nice."

"And," Jude added, "apparently jealous?"

Tess nodded. "Yes. She hates Miss York." The look she gave Marissa past her lashes was weighted. The maid was well aware that Charles and Marissa had been in love years before. Marissa had spoken of it, and the betrayal of that trust felt like a weight pressing on her chest.

"I don't understand. Surely he didn't say anything to his wife?" Marissa breathed.

"She told me nothing about it. Only that she wanted to know as much of you as I'd tell. I didn't say much, but she asked if you had any birthmarks, any features worth noting. I did not truly understand... and then, I only had to retrieve a

bag tonight, and she said she'd reward me with a hundred pounds. I didn't mean anything by it, miss."

Whether she had or not, the damage was done. But at least they knew who was threatening them. "If she hates me so much, what is the chance that she will leave this be?"

She addressed the room at large, but no one answered. Edward glanced toward the clock. "I'd say this is best left till morning. It's nearly midnight already, and the LeMont estate is nearly three hours away. We'll leave at first light."

"And the girl?" Jude asked.

They all stared at Tess as she began to weep again.

Edward finally sighed. "I suppose we shall lock her in a room tonight and send her on to Hull in the morning. You're going home, Tess, so I hope that twenty pounds will count you settled for a time."

"Of course," she whispered.

Aidan wrapped a hand around her arm and lifted her up. "Third floor, I assume?"

Tess gave Marissa one last pitiful look before being led away. Marissa felt a twinge of pity for the girl who'd been her maid for four years, but Tess had known full well that she was being asked to do something wrong. No one paid a hundred pounds for charitable works.

"Why don't you try to get some sleep, Marissa?" Edward said. "We'll see what can be done tomorrow. If Mrs. LeMont is reasonable ..."

Marissa didn't know the woman well enough to guess. She'd met her a dozen times over, but even before the marriage to Charles, there'd been nothing like friendship between them. She'd been a serious young woman who'd always seemed more comfortable with the married ladies. Marissa had run with the younger girls. And the gentlemen, of course. She couldn't fathom how Charles's wife had come to hate her.

She looked up from her thoughts to see that Jude had resumed his place at the window, and the rigid posture of his back screamed of a desire for solitude. Despite that, she considered going to him, to ask if they might speak in private. But what could she say? I'm sorry I thought you ugly.
I'm sorry I liked you and wanted you and still thought there couldn't he more between us.

What if that only hurt him more?

Better to wait until tomorrow, when this drama was resolved. Better to know where they stood before she decided if she should take a step toward him or simply let him walk away.

So she left Jude staring out at the lonely night and went to find her own loneliness in her chambers. She only wished she knew if Jude was thinking of her as he stared out at the dark, or if he was praying for the chance to leave this mad place and never return.

Jude's muscles felt like tightening rope beneath his skin as he stared out at the black night. What had Marissa meant by that small touch? What had it meant when she'd clung so tightly to him?

Nothing,
he told his injured heart. Nothing more than any other touch had meant. And there was so much more to worry over, but Jude couldn't seem to turn his mind to the problem at hand.

Edward sighed loudly, prompting Jude to face the room again. The man sat slumped at his desk, head in hands, the very picture of a troubled gentle man. When he raised his head, his weary gaze completed the portrait. "I'd best go check with Aidan," he grumbled. "Our servants' quarters are hardly equipped to hold prisoners."

He stood and set his shoulders deliberately back, as if to resettle the weight upon them. "I'll see you in the morning."

Jude raised a hand. "Good night."

He was turning back toward the window when Edward's voice drifted in from the corridor. "Harry," he said, "I'll be back in a few minutes to fill you in."

"But..." Harry wandered into the room, his face tight with confusion. "What in the world has happened? Did the girl confess?"

"She did." Jude poured Harry a drink and approached him with a carefully neutral expression. "The girl was Marissa's lady's maid, hired away by Mrs. Charles Lemont."

"Mrs. Lemont?" Harry sputtered. "But that makes no sense. The blackmail ..."

"She was out to ruin Marissa's reputation because of Charles Lemont's previous affection."

"My God," Harry breathed. "All that because of young love?" Everything
on
his face sang of surprise, but Jude still felt uneasy. Harry was a born actor, after all.

Jude's neck prickled. His instincts had never failed him before. He raised one eyebrow. "Quite a feat for a gently bred woman to carry off
on
her own."

"Indeed." Harry's eyes didn't even twitch.

"Do you think she might've had help? Someone to arrange contact with the maid? Someone to help her plot?"

"I suppose it's possible." His forehead crinkled with thought. "One of the guests, do you mean?"

Jude cocked his head. "I was thinking someone closer still."

Harry's puzzlement held for a few more heartbeats, then his eyes widened as he met Jude's gaze. Blood rushed to his cheeks in a violent flush. "I say, sir! You are not accusing me in this, I hope!"

"Perhaps accuse is too strong a word."

"How dare you! I am her cousin. A member of this family! If anyone is set to benefit from this outrage, it's you."

A fair enough point, actually, but Jude was sure of himself, at least. "Ah," he said, "but I am not the one who's hiding something from this family, Harry. You are."

Jude felt a hard surge of satisfaction at the panic that flared in Harry's eyes. Without a doubt, Marissa's cousin was hiding something. Something important, it seemed.

"I d-don't ..." he stammered. "I most certainly am not."

"Indeed you are. I can see it clearly on your face, not to mention there's the little scene I witnessed in the stable yard. Something involving that package you entrusted to the groom ..."

Harry's face went so white that Jude felt a moment of sympathy. "You... you didn't. . . ?"

"Why don't you tell me the truth, Harry, else I'll feel it my responsibility to mention what I saw to Edward."

"It's nothing to do with this," Harry breathed. "I swear on my honor as a gentleman."