How to Plan a Wedding for a Royal Spy (28 page)

“Do you know these men?” Will asked.

“Aye,” came the reluctant answer.

Alec jabbed him in the shoulder. “You'll have to do better than that, man.”

O'Shay bared his teeth in a snarl. “Sod off, you bleedin' Scotsman.”

“Now, that's cut me to the quick,” Alec said.

“We know you're a Ribbonman,” Will said, “as are the other men on this list. You all had to flee Ireland after the Battle of Garvagh.”

Even by the light of the miserable fire in the grate and a guttering tallow candle on the mantel, Will could see the color drain from O'Shay's face. “Who told you that?” he slowly asked.

“Your sister, for one,” he replied.

Anguish flashed across the Irishman's features. He swallowed noisily before he could get the next question out. “What else did she say?”

“That she was worried about you. That she was afraid you were caught up in something you couldn't handle.”

O'Shay's head drooped. He stared at the floor, looking stunned. Beaten, too, if Will didn't miss his guess. When he looked up again, Will was startled to see tears forming in the big man's gaze.

“Did she tell you where to find me?”

“She didn't want to,” Will said. “But I didn't give her much of a choice.”

“Did she tell you?” O'Shay gritted out from between clenched teeth.

Will and Alec exchanged wary glances. Something was off, but Will couldn't yet figure out what. “Not this exact location, no. But she did tell us where to look.”

O'Shay let out a harsh laugh, shaking his head. “Aye, and I bet it's kept you jumpin', hasn't it? She knew exactly where I was, but she's too clever to let you find me too soon.”

Alec jabbed him in the shoulder again. “Stop speaking in riddles, man. Your sister is obviously trying to protect you. We don't blame her for that.”

O'Shay snorted with disdain. “I'm the one tryin' to protect
her.
”

“What?” Will took a slow step forward. “You are a Ribbonman, are you not? Are you telling me that you pulled your sister into this plot?”

“I
was
a Ribbonman. And what I'm tellin'
you
is that I have no bloody idea what this bloody plot is,” O'Shay growled. “Bridget wouldn't tell me a goddamned thing or listen to a word I said, no matter how hard I begged her not to get involved with those bastards.”

Will started to get a very bad feeling in his gut—one that usually signaled he'd gone off in the wrong direction. “The other men on this list?”

O'Shay nodded then closed his eyes, looking like death. “I'm the one who made her leave Ireland, not the other way around. I wanted to get her away from all that before we got ourselves killed. Get a new start in London. I knew she'd do all right, with her book learnin' and pretty ways, even if I didn't. For a while, I thought she was doin' all right.”

The small room was stifling hot, but Will felt a chill pass through his limbs. Alec and Carrington looked equally disturbed.

“So, you're saying that your own sister let you be taken up as guilty for a conspiracy you had no involvement in?” Alec asked slowly.

O'Shay opened his eyes and sucked in a heavy breath, struggling to capture his composure. “Looks that way, don't it?”

Will slowly nodded as the puzzle began to take shape. “That's what you were doing there that night at St. Margaret's. You were trying to convince your sister to walk away, not the other way around.”

“Give the man a prize,” O'Shay sneered.

“Enough of your shite, man,” Alec barked. “We need to know the leader of this little gang, and where we can find him. Things will go better for you if you cooperate.”

O'Shay shook his head, almost as if he pitied them. “You bloody fools still don't get it, do you? My sweet sister Bridget is the leader. She's the one with all the answers, not those idiots sniffin' around her skirts.”

And then all the puzzle pieces clicked into place in Will's head with hideous clarity. Bridget worked in Sir Gerald Milbank's huge old pile on the Thames—the same Sir Gerald who held weekly dinner parties attended by various members of the government, including the prime minister.

Even, including on occasion, the Duke of York.

He uttered a curse so foul it even startled Alec.

“What?” his cousin asked.

Will shook his head, disgusted that he hadn't thought of it before. “She works in Milbank's house. Who knows what she has access to?”

For a moment, Alec looked dumbstruck, but then shook it off. “Apparently, we are a pack of idiots.”

Will grabbed O'Shay by the collar, pulling him half out of the chair. “I need details, man. Tell me where I can find your sister and these other men before it's too late.”

O'Shay let out an ugly, bitter laugh. “Figure it out yourselves, you buggerin' bastards. I won't send me own sister to the gallows.”

“Your sister is trying to send
you
to the gallows to cover up her crime,” Will exclaimed. “How can you keep protecting her?”

O'Shay's expression was a harrowing mix of contempt and despair. “Maybe hangin's what I deserve—what we
all
deserve, including you lot.”

Alec grabbed Will by the arm, pulling him off the big Irishman. “Will, you need to tell Aden. I'll go to Milbank's and start the search, but have Aden send reinforcements to help. Carrington and his men can take O'Shay to Bow Street.”

Will was already halfway out the door.

 

 

“Evie, this is a dreadful idea,” Eden said. “Wolf told you to stay close to home until this horrible situation is resolved. I think you should listen to him.”

Her twin stood in the middle of Evie's bedroom with her fists propped on her hips and her fair brows pulled into a fierce scowl. It was a typical Eden pose when she was trying to boss Evie about. Most of the time, it worked. But not this time, because there was simply too much at stake.

“Will needs to stop acting like he's already my husband,” Evie replied as she finished buttoning up her spencer. “He has no business ordering me about and he knows it.”

“And what about when he is your husband?” Eden asked in a sarcastic tone. “Will you let him order you about then?”

Evie let out an impatient sigh. She truly didn't have time for this. “Yes, no . . . oh, I don't know. Honestly, Edie, I don't even know if Will and I
should
be getting married. Not like this, anyway. It's all such a terrible mess.”

Her sister hurried to give her a quick hug. “I know, darling, but Wolf's just trying to keep you safe. He likes to put on that stern, soldier's manner, but you know he adores you.” She cocked her head and gave Evie a smile. “In fact, I suspect you have him eating out of your hand by now, don't you?”

Evie's stomach dipped at the idea of Will adoring her but knew it wasn't true. Yes, he cared a great deal for her and certainly seemed to enjoy making love to her, but she knew he wouldn't have asked her to marry him unless his hand had been forced. Every time she thought of being hopelessly in love with a man who couldn't return that depth of emotion, a part of her heart seemed to cringe with shame. It was rudely ironic that there was a man who
did
truly adore her and would still probably pledge his life to her. But Evie could no longer envision wedding Michael—or anyone else, for that matter. For her, there would now only and ever be Will, which struck her as a rather perilous situation.

She forced away her gloomy thoughts and stepped around her sister, heading to the wardrobe. “I don't know where you get such an idea, Edie. No one ever tells William Endicott what to do. Well, except for his father, perhaps.”

Eden rolled her eyes and flopped down onto the chaise. “Don't think I don't know what's going on between you two.”

Evie jerked to a halt and slowly turned. She shared almost everything with her sister, but she had
not
shared the fact that she and Will had been physically intimate. It was something so profoundly life-changing that she was still trying to sort it out in her head. Besides, Eden would want details, and Evie couldn't think of any way to describe what had happened without making it sound sordid or cheap. It had been anything but that, but there was no denying she'd violated all boundaries of decency and decorum. Under the circumstances, she supposed she should count herself lucky that Will wanted to marry her at all.

“I have no idea what you're talking about,” she said, sounding stupid and stiff.

Eden's eyebrows distorted into a comical lift. “Really? Well, you certainly made a good start on things the other night in the library. After that episode, I assumed that Will would have taken advantage of any opportunity to engage in, well, a little more exploration.”

Evie breathed out a tiny sigh of relief and dredged up a smile. “Well, perhaps just a little bit, but nothing worth talking about. Not that Will isn't a very good kisser,” she hastily added when Eden looked more than slightly appalled. “He's a very good kisser, naturally.”

“Well, that's good to know. But I was hoping for a little more detail than that. I haven't had very good luck in that particular area.”

Eden sounded so disgruntled that Evie was tempted to laugh. Her sister might have a reputation as an outrageous flirt, but it was mostly for show. When it came right down to it—when it came right down to
men
—Eden wasn't much more experienced than Evie in any way that counted.

Except that now Evie was a great deal more experienced than any gently bred spinster had a right to be, thanks to the aptly named Wolf Endicott.

“I'll tell you all about it when I get back from St. Margaret's,” Evie said, fetching a plain bonnet and gloves from her wardrobe. “I promise to wait up until you get back from Mrs. Parkminster's musicale. I can't tell you how happy I am that Mamma is allowing me to miss that.”

“Yes, I told her you were simply worn out from all the excitement of the last few days, and that you needed a good rest.”

“Thank you, dear. It's the truth, you know. And I'm dreading what happens when Mamma finally announces that Will and I are engaged.” Suddenly feeling overwhelmed, she sank down onto the padded bench in front of her dressing table. “Even if Michael's name is cleared and no one finds out about this horrid conspiracy, everyone's been expecting us to announce our engagement for ages. The gossips will simply love the fact that I've apparently thrown over Michael for Will.”

Eden went down on her knees in front of Evie, taking her hands in a comforting grip. “I hate to be too much of a stickler, old girl, but you
have
thrown Michael over for Wolf.”

“Only because I was forced to do it.”

“But you do love Wolf, don't you?”

Evie grimaced. “Of course I do, but I'm afraid that isn't enough. It's not like he truly wanted to marry me.”

“Have you asked him? I mean, really asked him to be honest with you?”

Evie nodded.

“Well,” Eden said a little impatiently, “what did he say?”

“He said he wanted to marry me.”

Her twin sat back on her heels. “Then why won't you believe him? He's never lied to you before.”

When Evie gaped at her, Eden flapped a hand. “I'm not talking about being a spy or suspecting Michael of trying to kill people. I mean about you and him, and how he feels about you. Wolf's always been honest about that.”

Evie couldn't hold back a bitter little laugh. “Yes, and I have the scars to prove it.” Then she glanced at the clock on the mantelpiece. “Goodness, it's getting late. I have to go, Edie. Bridget's note said I had to meet her at St. Margaret's at seven o'clock because she could only slip away for a few minutes.”

Eden pressed her hands to Evie's knees, holding her in place. “I'm really not sure about this. How do you know you can trust her? And I don't think it's safe to go there without escort, especially at night.”

“You've never raised that objection before,” she said.

Eden grimaced. “Because no one was using the place to plot murder before.”

“And there's no proof that they are now, dear. Besides, Bridget isn't involved in something like that, and I truly don't believe her brother is, either. In fact, her note expressly said that she had proof that could clear both Terence's and Michael's names.”

“If that's true, then she should tell Will and Captain Gilbride,” Eden said doggedly. “There's no reason for you to get any more involved than you already are.”

Evie forced herself to be patient. “Bridget is afraid of them, I already told you. And she has every reason to be, given her experiences in Ireland. Neither she nor her brother has any reason to trust the British military. Bridget trusts me and she trusts Michael, and she only feels safe speaking with me at St. Margaret's. Besides, I won't be alone. Mrs. Rafferty will be there, and I expect Father O'Kelley will be about too.”

Eden made a funny growling noise in the back of her throat. “Why don't you at least take a footman or a maid with you?”

“And if I do that, how long will it take for Mamma to find out what I've done? Thank you, but no.” She patted her sister's hands and then took her by the shoulders. “I promise I'll be fine. Now, stand up before you wrinkle that pretty dress of yours.”

Eden came to her feet and let Evie collect her things, although she didn't look happy about it. “Evie, I still think this is a very bad idea.”