Secrets In Savannah (Phantom Knights) (15 page)

“Jack, Mrs.
Lamont tells me that she and your wife have always been friends,” Dudley said
as he and Hannah came to my rescue, or so it appeared as they flanked me. “Now
we both know that is a falsehood. She also says that you do indeed ride well. I
could not believe it.”

“I would not say
well, but I do try. My wife enjoys morning rides through the countryside, you
understand. As to the other, I am sure that Mrs. Lamont considers herself
friends with every person that she truly means to vanquish. It is the mark of a
skillful woman.”

Dudley’s brow
cleared. “Ah, yes. That is it. Machiavellianism.”

“Truly,
gentlemen, you are ridiculous. I have always had a fondness for Guinevere. If
we have seemed at odds with one another, I assure you it was a farce. Two of a
kind, I do assure you.”

Oh, but I hoped
that was not true. I liked Hannah well enough, but I would never want to be
married to her. “Speaking of Guinevere, where is she?” I asked as I looked
around the crowded room.

Charlotte was in
the middle of a lively group of young men; Mrs. Stanton was surrounded by
elderly women, but I did not see Guinevere.

“There she is,”
Dud said, pointing across the room.

As a gap
appeared in the crowd, I saw her.

The devil!
My gut clenched
as full, deep rage struck me. Lucas Marx was seated beside Guinevere.

guinevere

M
rs. Stanton’s friends were as
welcoming to me as she was, which amounted to not at all. They smiled and
complimented my attire, but they were as genuine as my name. It seemed that Mrs.
Stanton had done well in making everyone believe that Jack had married beneath
him. I was nothing more than an orphan and a fortune hunter. The laughable part
was; I was neither.

“Do pardon me, ladies, but I must
speak with the guest of honor.”

That voice raked across my skin,
and a force like fire tore down my spine. What was he doing here?

Panic set in, and my hand
instinctively reached for my pistol, but I stopped myself and forced my
expression blank. My tight hold on my emotions faltered when he took my arm in
a strong clasp.

Lucas Marx looked the same as when
I was a child, eight years having hardly affected him, though the lines at the
corners of his mouth I did not remember. I had thought as much when I first saw
him on the day that I was about to marry Jack.

Jack!

Looking around the room as Lucas
lead me to a sofa in the corner, I saw Jack standing with Dudley and Hannah.
From his air of unconcern, he had not seen Lucas yet.

The hand on my elbow tightened and
as I glanced up at Lucas, he smiled. The lines curved, giving him a rather
sinister appearing mouth. The gleam in his eyes made me nauseous.

How he came to be in Mrs.
Stanton’s house was highly suspicious and alarming. Though I needed to speak
with Jack at once, I could not allow Lucas anywhere near him. Not only would
Jack not hesitate to shoot Lucas if he saw him again, but I did not want Lucas
speaking with Jack. Lucas had a way of spinning webs of deceit which surely
would have increased in eight years.

I felt the nausea creeping up from
my stomach, and my nerves were quickly fraying, but I forced myself to remain
calm, to all outward appearances at least.

“Might I be so bold as to request
the privilege of procuring you some champagne?”

To be poisoned? I think not. “No,
thank you, sir, I am not thirsty,” I said, on the edge of rudeness.

His eyes, the color of mud, were
daring me to make a commotion. I knew him well enough to know a trap was set
before me.

We moved a little away from the
groups of people, to the far corner of the room. I sat on the furthest side of
a sofa, almost on the edge, and Lucas sat beside me, too close for my comfort.

“Mr. Marx?” I asked with a mocking
note to the name. There had been no opportunities to speak with him when he
captured me before, so I had not questioned him about his false identity.

He smiled as he ran his tongue
over his teeth. I looked away, placing a hand to my churning stomach.

“Guinevere. That name is a stroke
of brilliance. That and the hair. It is no wonder that it has taken us this
long to locate you.”

There was no point in pretending
that I did not know what he meant. He knew who I was, and I knew him better
than I wished.

“My uncle?”

“Ah, Uncle Luther. He will be
overjoyed to learn that we have been reunited. Now all that is left is to be joined
by your dear sister and we will once again be a happy family.”

“You are not family,” I hissed
through gritted teeth, “nor will you ever be.”

“Tut-tut, my dear.” He leaned
toward me with his arm resting on the back of the sofa and his finger playing with
the lace on my sleeve. I scooted away from his finger but had nowhere else to
go.

“Where is your sister?” The casual
tone to his voice belied the seriousness of the question.

“Someplace you will never find
her.” My voice was so cold that I barely recognized it, but it matched the
anger and fear burning inside me.

Lucas smiled at me as if I were
some child to be placated. “Such spirit, such temper. You need to be broke to
bridle.” He looked around the room, still smiling. “I do believe that I will
persuade Luther to let me have you when we return home.” His smile hardened,
and so did his voice. “Though the husband does present a problem. One that I
mean to rectify permanently this time.”

My eyes followed his gaze to where
Jack was standing, watching us with such fury on his face that it frightened
me. Jack stepped toward us, but I shook my head, and he stopped, his eyes
narrowing in on Lucas. He moved toward Dudley and Hannah instead and the three
began speaking in low voices.

Charlotte was watching us from the
group that surrounded her. She appeared too interested to me. If she was going
to try to make mischief, I would remove her from here regardless of Jack’s
wishes.

“I am not the same girl that I
once was. You can no longer threaten me with your vicious words dripping with
poison, and your despicable attacks.”

“No,” he murmured as if to
himself. “I see that I cannot.” His gaze moved about the room, a smile hovering
on his lips. “What could you have been thinking by agreeing to marry him, I
wonder?”

Lucas was once again watching me,
with eyes as hard as stone.

“My husband is no concern of
yours. Let us speak of something that does concern you.” Lucas’s eyebrows rose.
“You, and your little group of actors are going to get back on your ship and
sail away tomorrow.”

Lucas laughed and pulled a
handkerchief from his pocket, dabbing at his eyes. “My girl, you are a
treasure.”

“I assure you that I am in
earnest. I have an army, Lucas, one that is prepared to fight at a word from
me. I am giving you the opportunity to flee with your life.”

Lucas was still smiling, but his
eyes were ablaze. “You lie.”

“I have had years here. Years
spent building a following who are prepared to lay down their lives for me and
my sister. You are grossly outnumbered.” It may or may not have been a lie.

“Ah, but I will not be for long,
my dear. You see,” he leaned toward me, and I leaned away, “your uncle is on
his way here, and he is bringing all of his guards. Your little band of farmers
are no equal for the skills of the royal guards.”

“You will not leave?”

He laughed again. “My dear, I only
just arrived but a few months ago. I will leave when Luther deems it time, and
you and your sister will be with us.”

“Then this is war,” I said with
the same steel in my voice that was there when I met with Harvey. I stood and
smoothed out my skirt as Lucas stood next to me.

He leaned close to my ear, and I
could feel his breath on my neck. “I wonder if your husband knew you were
signing his death certificate when he married you.” I stayed facing Jack, not
looking at Lucas as he stepped around me. He looked over his shoulder at me,
his smile a warning. “He will soon enough.”

My body was shaking, but I forced
my head up high as I walked toward Jack. He met me in the middle of the room.

“I am taking you home, now,” he
said with a fierceness that left no opening for refusal.

Jack and I made our apologies to
Mrs. Stanton, who was not at all put out by our early departure.

On the short ride back to the
house, Jack asked me what Lucas wanted, if he threatened me. I did not know
what to tell him, so I said nothing until we were safe in Nell Martin’s house.

“Some tea, Mrs. Short, in the
parlor, if you do not mind,” Jack said to the housekeeper as he led me into the
parlor. He had me sit on the sofa then he fetched a blanket and draped it over
my knees as I was shaking rather uncontrollably and had been since we climbed
into the carriage.

My mind was running rampant,
thoughts battling for supremacy. My uncle was coming and bringing with him his
royal guards. I should have never left the Holy Order. I left them for good
reasons; they would not help me find my sister, but I now needed their help
more than ever before. I would never allow my sister to fall into my uncle’s
hands, and Lucas meant to murder Jack.

Jack sat next to me, and when his
arm went around my shoulders, my eyes closed.

“Tell me everything, Guinevere. I
need to know.”

Taking a deep breath, I released
it in a long sigh. “He says that he has written to my uncle and that my uncle
will arrive with all of his guards.”

Jack’s hand on my shoulder
tightened but not painfully.

“They do not mean to leave without
me and my sister, and, Jack, I am certain that it is to Lucas whom George means
to deliver my sister.”

Jack stayed still for just a
moment then he turned me and brought me against his chest, his head close to my
own. “I will not allow that to happen. I promise you. George is a good man, and
when he learns how despicable Lucas and your uncle are, he will not give your
sister into their hands.”

“I wish I could believe that.”

Jack’s lips touched my cheek, but
the door opened, and he leaned back as Mrs. Short brought in the tea tray.

“Mrs. Martin appeared a little
tired, so I took it upon myself to bring this,” she said, lifting a small
bottle from the tray. “It is my own recipe, one that Mrs. Martin—the other Mrs.
Martin—says cures any ailments.” She handed the bottle to Jack then left us,
closing the door behind her.

Jack poured some of the liquid
into my tea before handing me the cup. I was too tired and too distressed to
care. I sipped the hot liquid allowing it to soothe my nerves and the pounding
in my head.

“Why did Charlotte come here?” I
asked between sips. I looked over at Jack to see him frown.

“She wanted to be a part. The
child has only ever wanted to feel as if she belonged.” Jack pulled me against
his side. “If you would speak with her, I believe you would find that you have
some things in common. She, too, has lost her parents in a brutal way. Sam has
done his best by her, but still she wants to prove to him, to everyone, that
she is worthy.”

“That is why you allowed her to
stay?” I asked, feeling somewhat relieved.

“You should know that I have a
soft heart. It is rather a flaw of mine.”

The soft flicker of candlelight
danced around the walls giving the room a feeling of intimacy. I was beginning
to warm, the effect of the medicine, no doubt. The pain in my head was quickly
fading, but was being replaced by a detached feeling of lightness. The flicker
of the candles was making me tired and feeling Jack so close filled me with
desire.

“It is not a flaw,” I heard myself
saying. “Do you know what I wish?”

“What do you wish?” Jack asked
though his voice sounded strangely deeper.

“I wish that we were married, that
all of this,” I waved my hand around, “was our home, and there was no talk of
danger or royal guards or spies.”

“It can be that way,” I heard his
voice say from some far off place.

My head shook as if pulled on a
string. “No, it cannot. I can never marry. Not without her permission.”

“Whose permission?”

My head sank against his shoulder,
and my hand grabbed his that was resting on his lap. I pulled it into my own
lap and held it tight. “My sister,” I admitted in a sleepy haze before
everything went dark.

Jack

B
efore I had left the party, I had
spoken to Dudley and Hannah about Lucas. Hannah had promised to keep her
watchful gaze focused on Charlotte, and to bring her to the house when the
party ended. Dudley asked why Lucas looked as if he wanted to do me a mischief.