Reckless (37 page)

Without a word Gabriel went downstairs with an equally silent Phoebe. She brightened up at once, however, as they walked into the drawing room.

Lydia, a vision of high fashion in soft peach, was seated on the sofa. She was bubbling over with eagerness. "There you are, Phoebe. I am glad Wylde is here, too. This should interest him."

"Good afternoon, Lady Clarington," Gabriel said formally.

"Mama, what have you found out?" Phoebe demanded as she seated herself.

"I played cards at Lady Clawdale's this afternoon," Lydia said. "Lost two hundred pounds, but it may have been worth it. I brought up Baxter's name very casually in the course of the conversation."

Gabriel frowned. "What did you learn?"

Lydia's eyes sparkled. "It seems that Lady Ran-tley recalls something about Neil Baxter having a mistress shortly before he left London three years ago. Apparently the woman was an actress."

"A mistress." Phoebe was plainly insulted. "Do you mean to say that while he was playing the part of my devoted Lancelot, he was keeping a mistress? Of all the bloody nerve."

Lydia met Gabriel's eyes and winked. Gabriel smiled ruefully. He definitely owed his mother-in-law a favor, he thought. She had done more to demolish Baxter's reputation in Phoebe's eyes in the past ten seconds than he had succeeded in doing in the past several days.

"Did Lady Rantley know anything specific about Baxter's bit of muslin?" Gabriel asked. He was aware that Phoebe was silently fuming.

"Not much," Lydia said. "Only that she later went on to bigger and better things after Baxter left town."

"What bigger and better things?" Phoebe asked.

Lydia smiled triumphantly. "Apparently she opened one of the more popular brothels. Lady Rantley did not know where it was, naturally. But I have given the matter some thought and I see no reason why it would have closed. I'll wager it's still doing business." She looked at Gabriel. "Perhaps if you locate it and talked to Baxter's ex-mistress, you might learn something of import."

"I might, indeed." Gabriel was already heading toward the door. This was definitely information that could narrow the search.

"Hold one minute, my lord," Phoebe ordered. "Where do you think you are going?"

"To find out what I can about Baxter's mistress."

"But that means you will be going to a brothel. Perhaps more than one," she protested. "I do not want you anywhere near such a place."

Gabriel gave her an impatient look. "Have no fear, madam. I do not intend to sample the wares. I am merely going to look for information."

"I do not want you going alone," she said quickly. "I shall go with you."

Lydia groaned. "Don't be an idiot, Phoebe. There is no way you can go with him."

"Your mother is right," Gabriel agreed immediately, grateful for Lydia's support. He walked over to Phoebe and took her hand in his. He could not help smiling at her obvious jealousy. It warmed his heart. "Calm yourself, my dear. I appreciate your concerns, but there is nothing in this that need alarm you. Trust me."

Her brows rose coolly. "I am to trust you even though you do not trust me? That does not seem particularly fair, Wylde."

Gabriel dropped his smile and her hand. "I shall no doubt be late getting home tonight. You need not wait up for me."

Phoebe glowered at him. "Lovely. I can look forward to another jolly evening at home alone with the servants. I am getting fed up to the teeth with this business, Wylde."

"That reminds me," Lydia interrupted smoothly. "I was wondering if you might consider releasing Phoebe from prison for the evening, Wylde. Meredith and I are going to the theater. Anthony will accompany us. Is there any reason Phoebe could not join us?"

Phoebe brightened. "No reason at all." She turned to Gabriel. "I shall be perfectly safe in the bosom of my family, my lord. Surely you cannot object."

Gabriel hesitated. He did not like the idea, but he realized he had no sound reason to forbid her from going out tonight. She would be surrounded by her family, and her brother would be along in the event of trouble.

"Very well," he said reluctantly.

Phoebe made a face. "Your gracious generosity quite overwhelms me, my lord. Who would have thought that I would find myself in the position of having to beg my husband's permission to go to the theater? I vow, you have changed my life, sir."

"Then we are even," he said. "Because you have certainly changed mine." He glanced at Lydia. "I am in your debt, madam."

"I know." Lydia chuckled. "Never fear, I shall collect."

Phoebe groaned aloud and rolled her eyes toward the ceiling. "Never say I did not warn you, Wylde."

Gabriel grinned ruefully. He inclined his head toward his bright-eyed mother-in-law. "I believe you said you lost two hundred pounds in the course of gaining the information about Baxter's mistress, madam. You must allow me to cover your losses."

"I would not dream of it," Lydia murmured.

"I insist," Gabriel said.

"Well, in that case," Lydia said, "I suppose I shall have to let you do as you see fit. And to think that some would have us believe the age of chivalry has gone."

Phoebe glared at Gabriel. "Some are going out of their way to bury it. Wylde, I do not care for this business of you investigating brothels."

"Think of me as being on a quest, my dear." Gabriel went out the door.

Phoebe gazed out at the crowded theater with satisfaction. "1 vow, an evening at the opera has never seemed quite so entertaining before," she said to Meredith.

Meredith, seated beside Phoebe in the plush box, adjusted the pale blue skirts of her evening gown. "1 suspect it merely seems more entertaining than usual because you have been feeling somewhat confined of late."

"That is putting it mildly," Phoebe said. "I have been imprisoned of late."

"Come, now, Phoebe." Meredith smiled. "You make it sound as if you have been held captive for months rather than a mere day. Besides, you know Wylde was only doing what he thought was best."

"I fear I am fated to be surrounded by people who think they know what is best for me." Phoebe studied the rows of boxes full of glittering theatergoers. "What a crush. We shall be an hour waiting for the carriage after the performance is over."

"Not unusual at the height of the Season," Lydia observed. The pink plumes that decorated her satin headband bobbed as she raised her opera glass to her eyes. "I do believe I see Lady Markham. I wonder who that handsome young man is with her. Certainly not her son. I wonder if she has acquired another paramour. I am told she has only just got rid of the last."

Meredith looked disapproving. "Mother, you are always a source of the most amazing gossip."

"I do my best," Lydia said proudly.

The velvet curtain at the back of the box twitched as Anthony entered. Phoebe's brows rose when she saw that he was scowling. "Did you bring us some lemonade?"

"No, I did not. A much more pressing issue has arisen." Anthony dropped down onto one of the velvet-cushioned chairs. "I just ran into Rantley. He and two of his friends were talking about Wylde."

Phoebe asked. "What were they saying?"

Anthony's mouth hardened. "They changed the topic the moment I arrived, but I overheard their earlier remarks. They were discussing the possibility that your husband may have made his fortune as a pirate rather than as a legitimate businessman while out in the islands."

"How dare they?" Phoebe stormed. She shot to her feet. "I shall find them and correct that notion at once."

"What's this?" Lydia lowered her opera glass and frowned at Phoebe. "Sit down, my girl. You are not going anywhere."

Meredith gave Phoebe a quelling glance. "Mother is quite right. Sit down at once. Do you want people staring at this box and wondering what is going on?"

Phoebe reluctantly sat. "We must do something about this dreadful gossip. I cannot stand by and allow people to speculate about Wylde in this manner."

"You will accomplish nothing by chasing after the gossip mongers," Lydia said sternly.

"What do you suggest I do?" Phoebe snapped.

Lydia's smile was filled with the happy anticipation of battle. "We shall let them come to us, of course."

Phoebe blinked. "I beg your pardon?"

"Mama is quite right," Meredith said calmly. "It is always preferable to fight the enemy on one's own ground."

Phoebe looked helplessly at Anthony. "Do you know what they are talking about?"

Anthony chuckled. "No, but I have utmost respect for Mama and Meredith when it comes to dealing with this sort of thing."

Lydia nodded with satisfaction. "I doubt that we will have long to wait for the first skirmish." She raised her glass to her eye again. "Ah, yes. Lady Ran-tley is leaving her box at this very moment. I'll wager she's on her way over here."

"Do you think she intends to ask rude questions about Wylde's past?" Phoebe demanded.

"I think it highly likely, given that her lord is talking about it to his friends." Lydia assumed a thoughtful expression. "The interesting thing about Eugenie is that she is the one who makes all the financial moves in the Rantley household. Rantley merely carries out her instructions. You will remember that when she gets here, won't you?"

"Yes, Mama," Meredith said.

Anthony grinned. "I understand."

"Excellent." Lydia paused. "I wonder who started that rumor of piracy."

"Baxter, no doubt," Anthony said. "Wylde really is going to have to do something about him. He's becoming more than a nuisance. Wylde says he has a mesmerizing effect on females. Apparently his former fiancée fell under Baxter's spell."

Phoebe stared at her brother. "What former fiancée?"

Anthony winced. "Sorry. Shouldn't have mentioned it. It's all finished. She's married to someone else."

"What former fiancée?" Phoebe repeated grimly.

"Just someone he was engaged to for a while out in the islands," Anthony said in soothing tones. "Wylde mentioned her in passing. It was not important."

Phoebe felt slightly ill. "Not important," she repeated under her breath. "Today I find out Wylde is pursuing a woman who runs a brothel and tonight I learn he was previously engaged to another woman. Someone he has never bothered to mention."

"There are two types of men in the world, Phoebe." Lydia peered through her glass. "The type who talk about their pasts incessantly and the type who rarely mention the subject. Be grateful you have got the latter sort. The former tend to become a bore over time."

"Nevertheless," Phoebe muttered, "it is unnerving to learn that my husband was rather recently engaged to another woman."

"Not so recently," Anthony said. "The engagement ended about a year ago. Right after Wylde learned that his fiancée was passing information on sailing dates and cargoes to Baxter."

"Oh, my God," Phoebe said. "What was she like?"

"The fiancée?" Anthony shrugged. "He did not describe her. I gather she was rather naive and not particularly loyal. Apparently Baxter had no difficulty seducing her."

Phoebe sighed. It seemed that every time she turned around, she discovered yet another reason why Gabriel hesitated to trust anyone. There were moments when she almost despaired of fulfilling her quest. How could she teach him to love if she could not even teach him to trust?

Bleakly she recalled the cold anger in his eyes that afternoon when he had stalked into her bedchamber, demanding Neil's note. He had obviously assumed the worst from the start.

For her part, she had been so busy recovering from the shock of the message that she had not had time to think about how to respond, let alone how to deal with Gabriel. Her first instinct had been to hide the note and she had done so. She had known Gabriel would be enraged, that he would worry she might believe Neil's lies.

Obviously she had chosen the wrong tactic. Gabriel was probably more wary now than ever of trusting her. Everything she did around Gabriel seemed to misfire.

"Good evening, Lydia."

Phoebe turned at the sound of the booming voice. Eugenie, Lady Rantley, sailed into the box with all the aplomb of a large vessel coming into port. She was garbed in an amethyst-colored satin gown that strained across her enormous chest and broad hips. Huge artificial flowers graced her turban.

Anthony got to his feet and Meredith nodded politely.

"Good evening, Eugenie." Lydia did not do anything more than glance over her shoulder. "Have you seen Milly's new paramour? He appears to be a charming young man."

"Milly has no doubt brought him here to put him on display," Lady Rantley said. "That is not what I wanted to talk to you about. Have you heard the rumors, Lydia?"

Phoebe started to speak, but Meredith caught her eye and silently hushed her.

"What rumors would those be?" Lydia continued to scan the audience with her opera glass.

"About Wylde, of course." Lady Rantley glanced at Phoebe. "They are saying the man made his fortune as a pirate."

"Are they, indeed?" Lydia said calmly. "How very exciting. I have always thought that every family needs a pirate or two somewhere in the family tree. It invigorates the bloodlines, you know."